sucula.

From sūs (“pig, hog, sow”) + -cula (diminutive suffix), at least when used literally. The more frequent "winch", "windlass" sense is most often explained as a metaphorical extension of this, by the resemblance of the device and the attached apparatus to a sow with her litter; the use of porculus (“little piglet”) figuratively to refer to a hook or clutching device used with a sucula indicates that this interpretation was certainly salient, whether original or secondary. Kortlandt 2007, citing Dybo 1961, explains the form's short vowel as from *sŭko- with an originally stressed velar suffix that caused pretonic shortening (which per Dybo is a shared feature of Italic and Celtic). Rasmussen 1999 instead attributes the short vowel to pre-geminate shortening (*sukkla- < *sukkelā-), and argues that Dybo was incorrect to give this as an example of pretonic shortening. For the idea that the gemination in succula is original, compare Proto-Celtic *sukkos. Alternative proposals for the etymology of the "windlass" sense: * Per Walde and Hofmann 1954, the "windlass" sense is from a Proto-Indo-European root related to Lithuanian sùkti (“to weave, spin, rotate”) and Russian скать (skatʹ, “twist, turn”). * Per Lewis and Short 1879, the "windlass" sense is possibly related to Greek σεύω (seúō, “drive”), itself of uncertain origin.