amongst antiquaries, a goblet or vessel used by the Romans in their sacrifices, in which they offered their consecrated meats to the gods, and with which they also made libations. The word is Latin, being formed from pateo, I am open (quod pateat), because it has a great aperture; in contradistinction to bottles and other vessels, which have only narrow necks, or the aperture of which is less than the body of the vessel.

The patera is also an ornament in architecture, which is frequently observed in the Doric frieze, and in the tympana of arches. See Architecture.