lengthening

* * *

* * *

ăb, ā, abs, prep. with abl. This IndoEuropean particle (Sanscr. apa or ava, Etr. av, Gr. upo, Goth. af, Old Germ. aba, New Germ. ab, Engl. of, off) has in Latin the following forms: ap, af, ab (av), au-, a, a; aps, abs, as-. The existence of the oldest form, ap, is proved by the oldest and best MSS. analogous to the prep. apud, the Sanscr. api, and Gr. epi, and by the weakened form af, which, by the rule of historical grammar and the nature of the Latin letter f, can be derived only from ap, not from ab. The form af, weakened from ap, also very soon became obsolete. There are but five examples of it in inscriptions, at the end of the sixth and in the course of the seventh century B. C., viz.:

AF VOBEIS,

Inscr. Orell. 3114;

AF MVRO,

ib. 6601;

AF CAPVA,

ib. 3308;

AF SOLO,

ib. 589;

AF LYCO,

ib. 3036 ( afuolunt =avolant, Paul. ex Fest. p. 26 Mull., is only a conjecture). In the time of Cicero this form was regarded as archaic, and only here and there used in account-books; v. Cic. Or. 47, 158 (where the correct reading is af, not abs or ab), and cf. Ritschl, Monum. Epigr. p. 7 sq.—The second form of this preposition, changed from ap, was ab, which has become the principal form and the one most generally used through all periods—and indeed the only oue used before all vowels and h; here and there also before some consonants, particularly l, n, r, and s; rarely before c, j, d, t; and almost never before the labials p, b, f, v, or before m, such examples as ab Massiliensibus, Caes. B. C. 1, 35, being of the most rare occurrence.—By changing the b of ab through v into u, the form au originated, which was in use only in the two compounds aufero and aufugio for abfero, ab-fugio; aufuisse for afuisse, in Cod. Medic. of Tac. A. 12, 17, is altogether unusual. Finally, by dropping the b of ab, and lengthening the a, ab was changed into a, which form, together with ab, predominated through all periods of the Latin language, and took its place before all consonants in the later years of Cicero, and after him almoet exclusively.—By dropping the b without lengthening the a, ab occurs in the form a- in the two compounds a-bio and a-perio, q. v.—On the other hand, instead of reducing ap to a and a, a strengthened collateral form, aps, was made by adding to ap the letter s (also used in particles, as in ex, mox, vix). From the first, aps was used only before the letters c, q, t, and was very soon changed into abs (as ap into ab):

abs chorago,

Plaut. Pers. 1, 3, 79 (159 Ritschl):

abs quivis,

Ter. Ad. 2, 3, 1:

abs terra,

Cato, R. R. 51;

and in compounds: aps-cessero,

Plaut. Trin. 3, 1, 24 (625 R.); id. ib. 3, 2, 84 (710 R): abs-condo, abs-que, abs-tineo, etc. The use of abs was confined almost exclusively to the combination abs te during the whole ante-classic period, and with Cicero till about the year 700 A. U. C. (=B. C. 54). After that time Cicero evidently hesitates between abs te and a te, but during the last five or six years of his life a te became predominant in all his writings, even in his letters; consequently abs te appears but rarely in later authors, as in Liv. 10, 19, 8; 26, 15, 12;

and who, perhaps, also used abs conscendentibus,

id. 28, 37, 2; v. Drakenb. ad. h. l. (Weissenb. ab).—Finally abs, in consequence of the following p, lost its b, and became ds- in the three compounds aspello, as-porto, and as-pernor (for asspernor); v. these words.—The late Lat. verb abbrevio may stand for adbrevio, the d of ad being assimilated to the following b.The fundamental signification of ab is departure from some fixed point (opp. to ad. which denotes motion to a point).

In space, and,

Fig., in time and other relations, in which the idea of departure from some point, as from source and origin, is included; Engl. from, away from, out of; down from; since, after; by, at, in, on, etc.

Lit., in space: ab classe ad urbem tendunt, Att. ap. Non. 495, 22 (Trag. Rel. p. 177 Rib.):

Caesar maturat ab urbe proficisci,

Caes. B. G. 1, 7:

fuga ab urbe turpissima,

Cic. Att. 7, 21:

ducite ab urbe domum, ducite Daphnim,

Verg. E. 8, 68. Cicero himself gives the difference between ab and ex thus: si qui mihi praesto fuerit cum armatis hominibus extra meum fundum et me introire prohibuerit, non ex eo, sed ab ( from, away from) eo loco me dejecerit....Unde dejecti Galli? A Capitolio. Unde, qui cum Graccho fucrunt? Ex Capitolio, etc., Cic. Caecin. 30, 87; cf. Diom. p. 408 P., and a similar distinction between ad and in under ad.—Ellipt.: Diogenes Alexandro roganti, ut diceret, si quid opus esset: Nunc quidem paululum, inquit, a sole, a little out of the sun, Cic. Tusc. 5, 32, 92. —Often joined with usque:

illam (mulierem) usque a mari supero Romam proficisci,

all the way from, Cic. Clu. 68, 192; v. usque, I.—And with ad, to denote the space passed over: siderum genus ab ortu ad occasum commeant, from... to, Cic. N. D. 2, 19 init.; cf. ab... in:

venti a laevo latere in dextrum, ut sol, ambiunt,

Plin. 2, 47, 48, § 128.

Sometimes with names of cities and small islands, or with domus (instead of the usual abl.), partie., in militnry and nautieal language, to denote the marching of soldiers, the setting out of a flcet, or the departure of the inhabitants from some place:

oppidum ab Aenea fugiente a Troja conditum,

Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 33:

quemadmodum (Caesar) a Gergovia discederet,

Caes. B. G. 7, 43 fin.; so id. ib. 7, 80 fin.; Sall. J. 61; 82; 91; Liv. 2, 33, 6 al.; cf.:

ab Arimino M. Antonium cum cohortibus quinque Arretium mittit,

Caes. B. C. 1, 11 fin.; and:

protinus a Corfinio in Siciliam miserat,

id. ib. 1, 25, 2:

profecti a domo,

Liv. 40, 33, 2;

of setting sail: cum exercitus vestri numquam a Brundisio nisi hieme summa transmiserint,

Cic. Imp. Pomp. 12, 32; so id. Fam. 15, 3, 2; Caes. B. C. 3, 23; 3, 24 fin.:

classe qua advecti ab domo fuerant,

Liv. 8, 22, 6;

of citizens: interim ab Roma legatos venisse nuntiatum est,

Liv. 21, 9, 3; cf.:

legati ab Orico ad M. Valerium praetorem venerunt,

id. 24, 40, 2.

Sometimes with names of persons or with pronouns: pestem abige a me, Enn. ap. Cic. Ac. 2, 28, 89 (Trag. v. 50 Vahl.):

Quasi ad adulescentem a patre ex Seleucia veniat,

Plaut. Trin. 3, 3, 41; cf.:

libertus a Fuflis cum litteris ad Hermippum venit,

Cic. Fl. 20, 47:

Nigidium a Domitio Capuam venisse,

id. Att. 7, 24:

cum a vobis discessero,

id. Sen. 22:

multa merces tibi defluat ab Jove Neptunoque,

Hor. C. 1, 28, 29 al. So often of a person instead of his house, lodging, etc.: videat forte hic te a patre aliquis exiens, from the father, i. e. from his house, Ter. Heaut. 2, 2, 6:

so a fratre,

id. Phorm. 5, 1, 5:

a Pontio,

Cic. Att. 5, 3 fin.:

ab ea,

Ter. And. 1, 3, 21; and so often: a me, a nobis, a se, etc., from my, our, his house, etc., Plaut. Stich. 5, 1, 7; Ter. Heaut. 3, 2, 50; Cic. Att. 4, 9, 1 al.

Transf., without the idea of motion. To designate separation or distance, with the verbs abesse, distare, etc., and with the particles longe, procul, prope, etc.

Of separation:

ego te afuisse tam diu a nobis dolui,

Cic. Fam. 2, 1, 2:

abesse a domo paulisper maluit,

id. Verr. 2, 4, 18, § 39:

tum Brutus ab Roma aberat,

Sall. C. 40, 5:

absint lacerti ab stabulis,

Verg. G. 4, 14.—

Of distance:

quot milia fundus suus abesset ab urbe,

Cic. Caecin. 10, 28; cf.:

nos in castra properabamus, quae aberant bidui,

id. Att. 5, 16 fin.; and:

hic locus aequo fere spatio ab castris Ariovisti et Caesaris aberat,

Caes. B. G. 1, 43, 1:

terrae ab hujusce terrae, quam nos incolimus, continuatione distantes,

Cic. N. D. 2, 66, 164:

non amplius pedum milibus duobus ab castris castra distabant,

Caes. B. C. 1, 82, 3; cf. id. lb. 1, 3, 103.—With adverbs: annos multos longinque ab domo bellum gerentes, Enn. ap. Non. 402, 3 (Trag. v. 103 Vahl.):

cum domus patris a foro longe abesset,

Cic. Cael. 7, 18 fin.; cf.:

qui fontes a quibusdam praesidiis aberant longius,

Caes. B. C. 3, 49, 5:

quae procul erant a conspectu imperii,

Cic. Agr. 2, 32, 87; cf.:

procul a castris hostes in collibus constiterunt,

Caes. B. G. 5, 17, 1; and:

tu procul a patria Alpinas nives vides,

Verg. E. 10, 46 (procul often also with simple abl.;

v. procul): cum esset in Italia bellum tam prope a Sicilia, tamen in Sicilia non fuit,

Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 2, § 6; cf.:

tu apud socrum tuam prope a meis aedibus sedebas,

id. Pis. 11, 26; and:

tam prope ab domo detineri,

id. Verr. 2, 2, 3, § 6.—So in Caesar and Livy, with numerals to designate the measure of the distance:

onerariae naves, quae ex eo loco ab milibus passuum octo vento tenebatur,

eight miles distant, Caes. B. G. 4, 22, 4; and without mentioning the terminus a quo: ad castra contenderunt, et ab milibus passunm minus duobus castra posuerunt, less than two miles off or distant, id. ib. 2, 7, 3; so id. ib. 2, 5, 32; 6, 7, 3; id. B. C. 1, 65; Liv. 38, 20, 2 (for which:

duo milia fere et quingentos passus ab hoste posuerunt castra,

id. 37, 38, 5). —

To denote the side or direction from which an object is viewed in its local relations,=a parte, at, on, in: utrum hacin feriam an ab laeva latus? Enn. ap. Plaut. Cist. 3, 10 (Trag. v. 38 Vahl.); cf.:

picus et cornix ab laeva, corvos, parra ab dextera consuadent,

Plaut. As. 2, 1, 12: clamore ab ea parte audito. on this side, Caes. B. G. 3, 26, 4: Gallia Celtica attingit ab Sequanis et Helvetiis flumen Rhenum, on the side of the Sequani, i. e. their country, id. ib. 1, 1, 5:

pleraque Alpium ab Italia sicut breviora ita arrectiora sunt,

on the Italian side, Liv. 21, 35, 11:

non eadem diligentia ab decumuna porta castra munita,

at the main entrance, Caes. B. G. 3, 25 fin.:

erat a septentrionibus collis,

on the north, id. ib. 7, 83, 2; so, ab oriente, a meridie, ab occasu; a fronte, a latere, a tergo, etc. (v. these words).

Fig.

In time.

From a [p. 3] point of time, without reference to the period subsequently elapsed. After:

Exul ab octava Marius bibit,

Juv. 1,40:

mulieres jam ab re divin[adot ] adparebunt domi,

immediately after the sucrifice, Plaut. Poen. 3, 3, 4:

Caesar ab decimae legionis cohortatione ad dextrum cornu profectus,

Caes. B. G. 2, 25, 1:

ab hac contione legati missi sunt,

immediately after, Liv. 24, 22, 6; cf. id. 28, 33, 1; 40, 47, 8; 40, 49, 1 al.:

ab eo magistratu,

after this office, Sall. J. 63, 5:

a summa spe novissima exspectabat,

after the greatest hope, Tac. A. 6, 50 fin. —Strengthened by the adverbs primum, confestim, statim, protinus, or the adj. recens, immediately after, soon after:

ut primum a tuo digressu Romam veni,

Cic. Att. 1, 5, 4; so Suet. Tib. 68:

confestim a proelio expugnatis hostium castris,

Liv. 30, 36, 1:

statim a funere,

Suet. Caes. 85;

and followed by statim: ab itinere statim,

id. ib. 60:

protinus ab adoptione,

Vell. 2, 104, 3:

Homerus qui recens ab illorum actate fuit,

soon after their time, Cic. N. D. 3, 5; so Varr. R. R. 2, 8, 2; Verg. A. 6, 450 al. (v. also primum, confestim, etc.).—

Sometimes with the name of a person or place, instead of an action: ibi mihi tuae litterae binae redditae sunt tertio abs te die,

i. e. after their departure from you, Cic. Att. 5, 3, 1: in Italiam perventum est quinto mense a Carthagine Nov[adot ], i. e. after leaving (=postquam a Carthagine profecti sunt), Liv. 21, 38, 1:

secundo Punico (bello) Scipionis classis XL. die a securi navigavit,

i. e. after its having been built, Plin. 16, 39, 74, § 192. —Hence the poct. expression: ab his, after this (cf. ek toutôn), i. e. after these words, hereupon, Ov. M. 3, 273; 4, 329; 8, 612; 9, 764.

With reference to a subsequent period. From, since, after:

ab hora tertia bibebatur,

from the third hour, Cic. Phil. 2, 41:

infinito ex tempore, non ut antea, ab Sulla et Pompeio consulibus,

since the consulship of, id. Agr. 2, 21, 56:

vixit ab omni aeternitate,

from all eternity, id. Div. 1, 51, 115:

cum quo a condiscipulatu vivebat conjunctissime,

Nep. Att. 5, 3:

in Lycia semper a terrae motu XL. dies serenos esse,

after an earthquake, Plin. 2, 96, 98, § 211 al.:

centesima lux est haec ab interitu P. Clodii,

since the death of, Cic. Mil. 35, 98; cf.:

cujus a morte quintus hic et tricesimus annus est,

id. Sen. 6, 19; and:

ab incenso Capitolio illum esse vigesumiun annum,

since, Sall. C. 47, 2:

diebus triginta, a qua die materia caesa est,

Caes. B. C. 1, 36.—Sometimes joined with usque and inde:

quod augures omnes usque ab Romulo decreverunt,

since the time of, Cic. Vat. 8, 20:

jam inde ab infelici pugna ceciderant animi,

from the very beginning of, Liv. 2, 65 fin. —Hence the adverbial expressions ab initio, a principio, a primo, at, in, or from the beginning, at first; v. initium, principium, primus. Likewise ab integro, anew, afresh; v. integer.—Ab... ad, from (a time)... to:

ab hora octava ad vesperum secreto collocuti sumus,

Cic. Att. 7, 8, 4; cf.:

cum ab hora septima ad vesperum pugnatum sit,

Caes. B. G. 1, 26, 2; and:

a quo tempore ad vos consules anni sunt septingenti octoginta unus,

Vell. 1, 8, 4; and so in Plautus strengthened by usque:

pugnata pugnast usque a mane ad vesperum,

from morning to evening, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 97; id. Most. 3, 1, 3; 3, 2, 80.—Rarely ab... in: Romani ab sole orto in multum diei stetere in acie, from... till late in the day, Liv. 27, 2, 9; so Col. 2, 10, 17; Plin. 2, 31, 31, § 99; 2, 103, 106, § 229; 4, 12, 26, § 89.

Particularly with nouns denoting a time of life:

qui homo cum animo inde ab ineunte aetate depugnat suo,

from an early age, from early youth, Plaut. Trin. 2, 2, 24; so Cic. Off. 2, 13, 44 al.:

mihi magna cum co jam inde a pueritia fuit semper famillaritas,

Ter. Heaut. 1, 2, 9; so,

a pueritia,

Cic. Tusc. 2, 11, 27 fin.; id. Fam. 5, 8, 4:

jam inde ab adulescentia,

Ter. Ad. 1, 1, 16:

ab adulescentia,

Cic. Rep. 2, 1:

jam a prima adulescentia,

id. Fam. 1, 9, 23:

ab ineunte adulescentia,

id. ib. 13, 21, 1; cf.

followed by ad: usque ad hanc aetatem ab incunte adulescentia,

Plaut. Trin. 2, 2, 20:

a primis temporibus aetatis,

Cic. Fam. 4, 3, 3:

a teneris unguiculis,

from childhood, id. ib. 1, 6, 2:

usque a toga pura,

id. Att. 7, 8, 5:

jam inde ab incunabulis,

Liv. 4, 36, 5:

a prima lanugine,

Suet. Oth. 12:

viridi ab aevo,

Ov. Tr. 4, 10, 17 al.;

rarely of animals: ab infantia,

Plin. 10, 63, 83, § 182.—Instead of the nom. abstr. very often (like the Greek ek paioôn, etc.) with concrete substantives: a pucro, ab adulescente, a parvis, etc., from childhood, etc.:

qui olim a puero parvulo mihi paedagogus fuerat,

Plaut. Merc. 1, 1, 90; so,

a pausillo puero,

id. Stich. 1, 3, 21:

a puero,

Cic. Ac. 2, 36, 115; id. Fam. 13, 16, 4 (twice) al.:

a pueris,

Cic. Tusc. 1, 24, 57; id. de Or. 1, 1, 2 al.:

ab adulescente,

id. Quint. 3, 12:

ab infante,

Col. 1, 8, 2:

a parva virgine,

Cat. 66, 26 al. —Likewise and in the same sense with adject.: a parvo, from a little child, or childhood, Liv. 1, 39, 6 fin.; cf.:

a parvis,

Ter. And. 3, 3, 7; Cic. Leg. 2, 4, 9:

a parvulo,

Ter. And. 1, 1, 8; id. Ad. 1, 1, 23; cf.:

ab parvulis,

Caes. B. G. 6, 21, 3:

ab tenero,

Col. 5, 6, 20;

and rarely of animals: (vacca) a bima aut trima fructum ferre incipit,

Varr. R. R. 2, 1, 13.

In other relations in which the idea of going forth, proceeding, from something is included.

In gen. to denote departure, separation, deterring, avoiding, intermitting, etc., or distance, difference, etc., of inanimate or abstract things. From: jus atque aecum se a malis spernit procul, Enn. ap. Non. 399, 10 (Trag. v. 224 Vahl.):

suspitionem et culpam ut ab se segregent,

Plaut. Trin. 1, 2, 42:

qui discessum animi a corpore putent esse mortem,

Cic. Tusc. 1, 9, 18:

hic ab artificio suo non recessit,

id. ib. 1, 10, 20 al.:

quod si exquiratur usque ab stirpe auctoritas,

Plaut. Trin. 1, 2, 180:

condicionem quam ab te peto,

id. ib. 2, 4, 87; cf.:

mercedem gloriae flagitas ab iis, quorum, etc.,

Cic. Tusc. 1, 15, 34:

si quid ab illo acceperis,

Plaut. Trin. 2, 2, 90:

quae (i. e. antiquitas) quo propius aberat ab ortu et divina progenie,

Cic. Tusc. 1, 12, 26:

ab defensione desistere,

Caes. B. C. 2, 12, 4:

ne quod tempus ab opere intermitteretur,

id. B. G. 7, 24, 2:

ut homines adulescentis a dicendi studio deterream,

Cic. de Or. 1, 25, 117, etc.—Of distance (in order, rank, mind, or feeling):

qui quartus ab Arcesila fuit,

the fourth in succession from, Cic. Ac. 1, 12, 46:

tu nunc eris alter ab illo,

next after him, Verg. E. 5, 49; cf.:

Aiax, heros ab Achille secundus,

next in rank to, Hor. S. 2, 3, 193:

quid hoc ab illo differt,

from, Cic. Caecin. 14, 39; cf.:

hominum vita tantum distat a victu et cultu bestiarum,

id. Off. 2, 4, 15; and:

discrepare ab aequitate sapientiam,

id. Rep. 3, 9 fin. (v. the verbs differo, disto, discrepo, dissideo, dissentio, etc.):

quae non aliena esse ducerem a dignitate,

Cic. Fam. 4, 7:

alieno a te animo fuit,

id. Deiot. 9, 24 (v. alienus). —So the expression ab re (qs. aside from the matter, profit; cf. the opposite, in rem), contrary to one's profit, to a loss, disadvantageous (so in the affirmative very rare and only ante-class.):

subdole ab re consulit,

Plaut. Trin. 2, 1, 12; cf. id. Capt. 2, 2, 88; more frequently and class. (but not with Cicero) in the negative, non, haud, ab re, not without advantage or profit, not useless or unprofitable, adcantageous:

haut est ab re aucupis,

Plaut. As. 1, 3, 71:

non ab re esse Quinctii visum est,

Liv. 35, 32, 6; so Plin. 27, 8, 35; 31, 3, 26; Suet. Aug. 94; id. Dom. 11; Gell. 18, 14 fin.; App. Dogm. Plat. 3, p. 31, 22 al. (but in Ter. Ad. 5, 3, 44, ab re means with respect to the money matter).

In partic.

To denote an agent from whom an action proceeds, or by whom a thing is done or takes place. By, and in archaic and solemn style, of. So most frequently with pass. or intrans. verbs with pass. signif., when the active object is or is considered as a living being: Laudari me abs te, a laudato viro, Naev. ap. Cic. Tusc. 4, 31, 67: injuria abs te afficior, Enn. ap. Auct. Her. 2, 24, 38:

a patre deductus ad Scaevolam,

Cic. Lael. 1, 1:

ut tamquam a praesentibus coram haberi sermo videretur,

id. ib. 1, 3:

disputata ab eo,

id. ib. 1, 4 al.:

illa (i. e. numerorum ac vocum vis) maxime a Graecia vetere celebrata,

id. de Or. 3, 51, 197:

ita generati a natura sumus,

id. Off. 1, 29, 103; cf.:

pars mundi damnata a rerum natura,

Plin. 4, 12, 26, § 88:

niagna adhibita cura est a providentia deorum,

Cic. N. D. 2, 51 al. —With intrans. verbs:

quae (i. e. anima) calescit ab eo spiritu,

is warmed by this breath, Cic. N. D. 2, 55, 138; cf. Ov. M. 1, 417: (mare) qua a sole collucet, Cic. Ac. 2, 105:

salvebis a meo Cicerone,

i. e. young Cicero sends his compliments to you, id. Att. 6, 2 fin.:

a quibus (Atheniensibus) erat profectus,

i. e. by whose command, Nep. Milt. 2, 3:

ne vir ab hoste cadat,

Ov. H. 9, 36 al. —A substantive or adjective often takes the place of the verb (so with de, q. v.):

levior est plaga ab amico quam a debitore,

Cic. Fam. 9, 16, 7; cf.:

a bestiis ictus, morsus, impetus,

id. Off. 2, 6, 19:

si calor est a sole,

id. N. D. 2, 52:

ex iis a te verbis (for a te scriptis),

id. Att. 16, 7, 5:

metu poenae a Romanis,

Liv. 32, 23, 9:

bellum ingens a Volscis et Aequis,

id. 3, 22, 2:

ad exsolvendam fldem a consule,

id. 27, 5, 6.—With an adj.:

lassus ab equo indomito,

Hor. S. 2, 2, 10:

Murus ab ingenic notior ille tuo,

Prop. 5, 1, 126:

tempus a nostris triste malis,

time made sad by our misfortunes, Ov. Tr. 4, 3, 36.—Different from per:

vulgo occidebantur: per quos et a quibus?

by whom and upon whose orders? Cic. Rosc. Am. 29, 80 (cf. id. ib. 34, 97: cujus consilio occisus sit, invenio; cujus manu sit percussus, non laboro); so,

ab hoc destitutus per Thrasybulum (i. e. Thrasybulo auctore),

Nep. Alc. 5, 4.—Ambiguity sometimes arises from the fact that the verb in the pass. would require ab if used in the active:

si postulatur a populo,

if the people demand it, Cic. Off. 2, 17, 58, might also mean, if it is required of the people; on the contrary: quod ab eo (Lucullo) laus imperatoria non admodum exspectabatur, not since he did not expect military renown, but since they did not expect military renown from him, Cic. Ac. 2, 1, 2, and so often; cf. Rudd. II. p. 213. (The use of the active dative, or dative of the agent, instead of ab with the pass., is well known, Zumpt, § 419. It is very seldom found in prose writers of the golden age of Roman liter.; with Cic. sometimes joined with the participles auditus, cognitus, constitutus, perspectus, provisus, susceptus; cf. Halm ad Cic. Imp. Pomp. 24, 71, and ad ejusdem, Cat. 1, 7 fin.; but freq. at a later period; e. g. in Pliny, in Books 2-4 of H. N., more than twenty times; and likewise in Tacitus seventeen times. Vid. the passages in Nipperd. ad Tac. A. 2, 49.) Far more unusual is the simple abl. in the designation of persons:

deseror conjuge,

Ov. H. 12, 161; so id. ib. 5, 75; id. M. 1, 747; Verg. A. 1, 274; Hor. C. 2, 4, 9; 1, 6, 2;

and in prose,

Quint. 3, 4, 2; Sen. Contr. 2, 1; Curt. 6, 7, 8; cf. Rudd. II. p. 212; Zumpt ad Quint. V. p. 122 Spalding.—Hence the adverbial phrase a se=uph heautou, sua sponte, of one's own uccord, spontaneously:

ipsum a se oritur et sua sponte nascitur,

Cic. Fin. 2, 24, 78:

(urna) ab se cantat quoja sit,

Plaut. Rud. 2, 5, 21 (al. eapse; cf. id. Men. 1, 2, 66); so Col. 11, 1, 5; Liv. 44, 33, 6.

With names of towns to denote origin, extraction, instead of gentile adjectives. From, of:

pastores a Pergamide,

Varr. R. R. 2, 2, 1:

Turnus ab Aricia,

Liv. 1, 50, 3 (for which Aricinus, id. 1, 51, 1):

obsides dant trecentos principum a Cora atque Pometia liberos,

Liv. 2, 22, 2; and poet.: O longa mundi servator ab Alba, Auguste, thou who art descended from the old Alban race of kings (=oriundus, or ortus regibus Albanis), Prop. 5, 6, 37.

In giving the etymology of a name: eam rem (sc. legem, Gr. nomon) illi Graeco putant nomine a suum cuique tribuendo appellatam, ego nostro a legendo, Cic. Leg. 1, 6, 19: annum intervallum regni fuit: id ab re... interregnum appellatum, Liv. 1, 17, 6:

(sinus maris) ab nomine propinquae urbis Ambracius appellatus,

id. 38, 4, 3; and so Varro in his Ling. Lat., and Pliny, in Books 1-5 of H. N., on almost every page. (Cf. also the arts. ex and de.)

With verbs of beginning and repeating: a summo bibere, in Plaut. to drink in succession from the one at the head of the table:

da, puere, ab summo,

Plaut. As. 5, 2, 41; so,

da ab Delphio cantharum circum, id Most. 1, 4, 33: ab eo nobis causa ordienda est potissimum,

Cic. Leg. 1, 7, 21:

coepere a fame mala,

Liv. 4, 12, 7:

cornicem a cauda de ovo exire,

tail-foremost, Plin. 10, 16, 18:

a capite repetis, quod quaerimus,

Cic. Leg. 1, 6, 18 al.

With verbs of freeing from, defending, or protecting against any thing:

a foliis et stercore purgato,

Cato, R. R. 65 (66), 1:

tantumne ab re tuast oti tibi?

Ter. Heaut. 1, [p. 4] 1, 23; cf.:

Saguntini ut a proeliis quietem habuerant,

Liv. 21, 11, 5:

expiandum forum ab illis nefarii sceleris vestigiis,

Cic. Rab. Perd. 4, 11:

haec provincia non modo a calamitate, sed etiam a metu calamitatis est defendenda,

id. Imp. Pomp. 6, 14 (v. defendo):

ab incendio urbem vigiliis munitam intellegebat,

Sall. C. 32:

ut neque sustinere se a lapsu possent,

Liv. 21, 35, 12:

ut meam domum metueret atque a me ipso caveret,

Cic. Sest. 64, 133.

With verbs of expecting, fearing, hoping, and the like, ab =a parte, as, Cic. Att. 9, 7, 4: cum eadem metuam ab hac parte, since I fear the same from this side; hence, timere, metuere ab aliquo, not, to be afraid of any one, but, to fear something (proceeding from) from him:

el metul a Chryside,

Ter. And. 1, 1, 79; cf.:

ab Hannibale metuens,

Liv. 23, 36; and:

metus a praetore,

id. 23, 15, 7;

v. Weissenb. ad h. l.: a quo quidem genere, judices, ego numquam timui,

Cic. Sull. 20, 59:

postquam nec ab Romanis robis ulla est spes,

you can expect nothing from the Romans, Liv. 21, 13, 4.

With verbs of fastening and holding:

funiculus a puppi religatus,

Cic. Inv. 2, 51, 154:

cum sinistra capillum ejus a vertice teneret,

Q. Cic. Pet. Cons. 3.

Ulcisci se ab aliquo, to take vengeance on one:

a ferro sanguis humanus se ulciscitur,

Plin. 34, 14, 41 fin.

Cognoscere ab aliqua re to knoio or learn by means of something (different from ab aliquo, to learn from some one):

id se a Gallicis armis atque insignibus cognovisse,

Caes. B. G. 1, 22.

Dolere, laborare, valere ab, instead of the simple abl.:

doleo ab animo, doleo ab oculis, doleo ab aegritudine,

Plaut. Cist. 1, 1, 62:

a morbo valui, ab animo aeger fui,

id. Ep. 1, 2, 26; cf. id. Aul. 2, 2, 9:

a frigore et aestu ne quid laborent,

Varr. R. R. 2, 2, 17; so,

a frigore laborantibus,

Plin. 32, 10, 46, § 133; cf.:

laborare ab re frumentaria,

Caes. B. G. 7, 10, 1; id. B. C. 3, 9; v. laboro.

Where verbs and adjectives are joined with ab, instead of the simple abl., ab defines more exactly the respect in which that which is expressed by the verb or adj. is to be understood, in relation to, with regard to, in respect to, on the part of:

ab ingenio improbus,

Plaut. Truc. 4, 3, 59:

a me pudica'st,

id. Curc. 1, 1, 51:

orba ab optimatibus contio,

Cic. Fl. 23, 54; ro Ov. H. 6,156: securos vos ab hac parte reddemus, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 24 fin. (v. securus):

locus copiosus a frumento,

Cic. Att. 5, 18, 2; cf.:

sumus imparati cum a militibas tum a pecunia,

id. ib. 7, 15 fin.:

ille Graecus ab omni laude felicior,

id. Brut. 16, 63:

ab una parte haud satis prosperuin,

Liv. 1, 32, 2 al.;

so often in poets ab arte=arte,

artfully, Tib. 1, 5, 4; 1, 9, 66; Ov. Am. 2, 4, 30.

In the statement of the motive instead of ex, propter, or the simple abl. causae, from, out of, on account of, in consequence of: ab singulari amore scribo, Balb. ap. Cic. Att. 9, 7, B fin.:

linguam ab irrisu exserentem,

thrusting out the tongue in derision, Liv. 7, 10, 5:

ab honore,

id. 1, 8; so, ab ira, a spe, ab odio, v. Drak. ad Liv. 24, 30, 1: 26, 1, 3; cf. also Kritz and Fabri ad Sall. J. 31, 3, and Fabri ad Liv. 21, 36, 7.

Especially in the poets instead of the gen.:

ab illo injuria,

Ter. And. 1, 1, 129:

fulgor ab auro,

Lucr. 2, 5:

dulces a fontibus undae,

Verg. G. 2, 243.

In indicating a part of the whole, for the more usual ex, of, out of:

scuto ab novissimis uni militi detracto,

Caes. B. G. 2, 25, 1:

nonnuill ab novissimis,

id. ib.; Cic. Sest. 65, 137; cf. id. ib. 59 fin.: a quibus (captivis) ad Senatum missus (Regulus).

In marking that from which any thing proceeds, and to which it belongs:

qui sunt ab ea disciplina,

Cic. Tusc. 2, 3, 7:

ab eo qui sunt,

id. Fin. 4, 3, 7:

nostri illi a Platone et Aristotele aiunt,

id. Mur. 30, 63 (in imitation of oi upo tinos).

To designate an office or dignity (with or without servus; so not freq. till after the Aug. period;

in Cic. only once): Pollex, servus a pedibus meus,

one of my couriers, Cic. Att. 8, 5, 1; so,

a manu servus,

a secretary, Suet. Caes. 74: Narcissum ab eplstulis ( secretary) et Pallantem a rationibus ( accountant), id. Claud. 28; and so, ab actis, ab admissione, ab aegris, ab apotheca, ab argento, a balneis, a bibliotheca, a codicillis, a jumentis, a potione, etc. (v. these words and Inscr. Orell. vol. 3, Ind. xi. p. 181 sq.).

The use of ab before adverbs is for the most part peculiar to later Latinity:

a peregre,

Vitr. 5, 7 (6), 8:

a foris,

Plin. 17, 24, 37; Vulg. Gen, 7, 16; ib. Matt. 23, 27:

ab intus,

ib. ib. 7, 15:

ab invicem,

App. Herb. 112; Vulg. Matt. 25, 32; Cypr. Ep. 63, 9: Hier. Ep. 18:

a longe,

Hyg. Fab. 257; Vulg. Gen. 22, 4; ib. Matt. 26, 58:

a modo,

ib. ib. 23, 39;

Hier. Vit. Hilar.: a nune,

Vulg. Luc. 1, 48:

a sursum,

ib. Marc. 15, 38.

Ab is not repeated like most other prepositions (v. ad, ex, in, etc.) with pron. interrog. or relat. after subst. and pron. demonstr. with ab:

Arsinoen, Stratum, Naupactum...fateris ab hostibus esse captas. Quibus autem hostibus? Nempe iis, quos, etc.,

Cic. Pis. 37, 91:

a rebus gerendis senectus abstrahit. Quibus? An iis, quae in juventute geruntur et viribus?

id. Sen. 6:

a Jove incipiendum putat. Quo Jove?

id. Rep. 1, 36, 56:

res publica, quascumque vires habebit, ab iis ipsis, quibus tenetur, de te propediem impetrabit,

id. Fam. 4, 13, 5.—

Ab in Plantus is once put after the word which it governs: quo ab, As. 1, 1, 106.—

It is in various ways separated from the word which it governs:

a vitae periculo,

Cic. Brut. 91, 313:

a nullius umquam me tempore aut commodo,

id. Arch. 6, 12:

a minus bono,

Sall. C. 2, 6:

a satis miti principio,

Liv. 1, 6, 4:

damnis dives ab ipsa suis,

Ov. H. 9, 96; so id. ib. 12, 18; 13, 116.—

The poets join a and que, making aque; but in good prose que is annexed to the following abl. (a meque, abs teque, etc.):

aque Chao,

Verg. G. 4, 347:

aque mero,

Ov. M. 3, 631:

aque viro,

id. H. 6, 156:

aque suis,

id. Tr. 5, 2, 74 al. But:

a meque,

Cic. Fam. 2, 16, 1:

abs teque,

id. Att. 3, 15, 4:

a teque,

id. ib. 8, 11, §

7: a primaque adulescentia,

id. Brut. 91, 315 al. —

A Greek noun joined with ab stands in the dat.: a parte negotiati, hoc est pragmatikê, removisse, Quint. 3, 7, 1.

In composition ab,

Retains its original signif.: abducere, to take or carry away from some place: abstrahere, to draw auay; also, downward: abicere, to throw down; and denoting a departure from the idea of the simple word, it has an effect apparently privative: absimilis, departing from the similar, unlike: abnormis, departing from the rule, unusual (different from dissimilis, enormis); and so also in amens=a mente remotus, alienus ( out of one's senses, without self-control, insane): absurdus, missounding, then incongruous, irrational: abutor (in one of its senses), to misuse: aborior, abortus, to miscarry: abludo; for the privative force the Latin regularly employs in-, v. 2. in.—

It more rarely designates completeness, as in absorbere, abutor ( to use up). (The designation of the fourth generation in the ascending or descending line by ab belongs here only in appearance; as abavus for quartus pater, great-great-grandfather, although the Greeks introduced upopappos; for the immutability of the syllable ab in abpatrnus and abmatertera, as well as the signif. Of the word abavus, grandfather's grandfather, imitated in abnepos, grandchild's grandchild, seems to point to a derivation from avi avus, as Festus, p. 13 Mull., explains atavus, by atta avi, or, rather, attae avus.)

prōductĭo, ōnis, f. [id.].

A lengthening, prolonging (class.):

productio temporis,

Cic. Fin. 3, 14, 45:

verbi,

id. Top. 8, 36.—

A lengthening in pronunciation:

ut aut contractione brevius fieret, aut productione longius,

Cic. de Or. 3, 50, 196:

voces aut productione aut correptione mutatae,

Quint. 9, 3, 69; cf. id. 7, 9, 13.

tractus, a, um, Part. and P. a. of traho.

tractus, ūs, m. [traho], a drawing, dragging, hauling, pulling, drawing out, trailing.

Lit. (mostly poet.):

tractu gementem Ferre rotam,

Verg. G. 3, 183:

tractu taurea terga domant,

Val. Fl. 6, 359:

modicus tractus (al. tractatus),

Plin. 9, 46, 70, § 153:

aut si qua incerto fallet te littera tractu,

stroke, Prop. 4 (5), 3, 5:

continuus subitarum tractus aquarum,

i. e. a drinking, Luc. 4, 368; cf.:

aëra pestiferum tractu,

i.e. a drawing in, inhalation, id. 7, 412:

repetitaque longo Vellera mollibat nebulis aequantia tractu,

Ov. M. 6, 21: harenam fluctus trahunt... Syrtes ab tractu nominatae, i. e. from Gr. surô, = traho;

because of this drawing,

Sall. J. 78, 3:

(risus) interdum quodam etiam corporis tractu lacessitur,

i. e. movement, Quint. 6, 3, 7.—Of a serpent, a drawing itself along, a creeping, crawling:

squameus in spiram tractu se colligit anguis,

Verg. G. 2, 154; Ov. M. 15, 725; Claud. B. Get. 22; id. II. Cons. Stil. 172.—

Concr., a train, track, course:

nonne vides longos flammarum ducere tractus,

long trains, Lucr. 2, 207: flammarum, Verg. G. 1, 367; Luc. 2, 270: (Phaëthon) longo per aëra tractu Fertur, in a long train (of fire), Ov. M. 2, 320:

longo per multa volumina tractu Aestuat unda minax,

Luc. 5, 565; so of the course of the moon, Cic. Div. 2, 46, 97;

of the Nile,

Luc. 10, 257:

(Cydnus) leni tractu e fontibus labens puro solo excipitur,

Curt. 3, 4, 8:

aquarum,

id. 5, 3, 2:

ut arborum tractu equitatus hostium impediretur,

Nep. Milt. 5, 3;

of the wind,

Val. Fl. 1, 614; cf. Manil. 1, 532; 3, 366. —

Transf., a space drawn out, i. e. a stretch, extent, tract of a thing (class.):

castrorum,

Liv. 3, 28, 1:

cujus (urbis) is est tractus ductusque muri, ut, etc.,

Cic. Rep. 2, 6, 11 Moser N. cr.:

cum mediae jaceant immensis tractibus Alpes,

Luc. 2, 630; and Claud. Rapt. Pros. 3, 9. —

Concr., of places, a territory, district, region, tract of land (class.;

syn.: regio, plaga): oppidi,

Caes. B. C. 3, 112:

corruptus caeli tractus,

Verg. A. 3, 138 Serv.:

tractus ille celeberrimus Venafranus,

Cic. Planc. 9, 22:

tractus uter plures lepores, uter educet apros,

Hor. Ep. 1, 15, 22:

tractu surgens oleaster eodem,

Verg. G. 2, 182:

genera (vitium) separari ac singulis conseri tractibus, utilissimum,

Plin. 17, 22, 35, § 187; Flor. 1, 15, 2.—

Trop.

In gen., course, progress, movement:

tractus orationis lenis et aequabilis,

course, movement, current, Cic. de Or. 2, 13, 54; cf.:

in omni corpore, totoque, ut ita dixerim, tractu (orationis),

Quint. 9, 4, 61:

cetera continuo magis orationis tractu decurrunt,

id. 5, 8, 2.—

Of time, space, lapse, period:

quod neque clara suo percurrere fulmina cursu Perpetuo possint aevi labentia tractu,

Lucr. 1, 1004; 5, 1216:

eodem tractu temporum nituerunt oratores, etc.,

Vell. 2, 9, 1:

aetatis,

Val. Max. 8, 13, ext. 2:

hoc legatum Cum voluerit, tractum habet, quamdiu vivat is, a quo, etc.,

duration, period, Dig. 32, 1, 11. —

In partic., a drawing out, protracting, lengthening, protraction, extension, length:

quanta haesitatio tractusque verborum!

drawling, Cic. de Or. 2, 50, 202:

pares elocutionum,

Quint. 4, 2, 118:

illa (historia) tractu et suavitate atque etiam dulcedine placet,

extent, copiousness, Plin. Ep. 5, 8, 10.—

Of time:

durante tractu et lentitudine mortis,

Tac. A. 15, 64:

belli,

id. ib. 15, 10.—

In gram.:

in tractu et declinatione talia sunt, qualia apud Ciceronem beatitas et beatitudo,

a lengthening in derivation, Quint. 8, 3, 32 Spald.

* * *

D, d (n. indecl., sometimes f. sc. littera), the flat dental mute, corresponding in character and sound to the English d and the Greek D, was the fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, and was called de: Ter. Maur. p. 2385 P., Auson. Idyll. 12, de Litt. Monos. 14. But at the end of a syllable, or after another consonant, its sound was sharpened, so that the grammarians often discuss the question whether d or t should be written, especially in conjunctions and prepositions. Illa quoque servata est a multis differentia, ut ad cum esset praepositio, d litteram, cum autem conjunctio, t acciperet (Quint. 1, 7, 5; cf. id. 1, 4, 16). Hence we may infer that some disputed this distinction, and that the sounds of ad and at must at least have been very similar (cf. also Terent. Scaur. p. 2250, Vel. Long. p. 2230 sq., Cassiod. p. 2287, 2291). Thus also aput, it, quit, quot, aliut, set, haut are found for apud, id, quid, quod, aliud, sed, haud. It would appear from the remarks of these authors that the last two words in particular, having a proclitic character, while they distinctly retained the d sound before an initial vowel in the following word, were pronounced before a consonant almost as set, haut (Mar. Vict. p. 2462 P., Vel. Long. l. l. v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.). The use of t for d in the middle of a word, as Alexenter for Alexander, atnato for adnato, is very rare (cf. Wordsworth, Fragm. p. 486 sq.). On the other hand, the use of d for t, which sometimes appears in MSS. and inscrr., as ed, capud, essed, inquid (all of which occur in the Cod. palimps. of Cic. Rep.), adque, quodannis, sicud, etc., fecid, reliquid, etc. (all in inscriptions after the Augustan period), is to be ascribed to a later phonetic softening (cf. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.).

As an initial, the letter d, in pure Latin words, suffers only a vowel after it; the single consonantal compound dr being found only in borrowed words, such as drama, Drusus, Druidae, etc., and in the two onomatopees drenso and drindio. Accordingly, the d of the initial dv, from du, was rejected, and the remaining v either retained unaltered (as in v iginti for du iginti; cf. triginta) or changed into b (as in b ellum, b is, b onus, for du ellum, du is, du onus; v. those words and the letter B). So too in and after the 4th century A.D., di before vowels was pronounced like j (cf. J ovis for Dj ovis, and J anus for Di anus); and hence, as the Greek di ( di) passed into dz, i. e. z (as in z a for d ia, and z eta for di aeta), we sometimes find the same name written in two or three ways, as Diabolenus, Jabolenus, Zabolenus; Jadera, Diadora, Zara. In many Greek words, however, which originally began with a y sound, d was prefixed by an instinctive effort to avoid a disagreeable utterance, just as in English the initial j has regularly assumed the sound of dj: thus Gr. zugon, i. e. diugon = L. jugum; and in such cases the d sound has been prefixed in Greek, not lost in Latin and other languages (v. Curt. Griech. Etym. p. 608 sq.).b. As a medial, d before most consonants undergoes assimilation; v. ad, no. II.; assum, init., and cf. iccirco, quippiam, quicquam, for idcirco, quidpiam, quidquam; and in contractions like cette from cedite, pelluviae from pediluviae, sella from sedela. In contractions, however, the d is sometimes dropped and a compensation effected by lengthening the preceding vowel, as scāla for scand-la. D before endings which begin with s was suppressed, as pes from ped-s, lapis from lapid-s, frons from frond-s, rasi from radsi, risi from rid-si, lusi from lud-si, clausi from claud-si; but in the second and third roots of cedo, and in the third roots of some other verbs, d is assimilated, as cessi, cessum, fossum, etc. D is also omitted before s in composition when another consonant follows the s, as ascendo, aspicio, asto, astringo, and so also before the nasal gn in agnatus, agnitus, and agnosco, from gnatus, etc.: but in other combinations it is assimilated, as assentio, acclamo, accresco; affligo, affrico; agglomero, aggrego; applico, approbo, etc. In tentum, from tendo, d is dropped to avoid the combination ndt or ntt, since euphony forbids a consonant to be doubled after another.g. Final d stood only in ad, apud, sed, and in the neuter pronouns quid, quod, illud, istud, and aliud, anciently alid. Otherwise, the ending d was considered barbarous, Prisc. p. 686 P.

The letter d represents regularly an original Indo-Germanic d, in Greek d, but which in German becomes z, in Gothic t, and in Anglo-Saxon t: cf. Gr. hêdomai, Sanscr. svad, Germ. süss, Angl.-Sax. svēte (sweet), with Lat. suadeo; domare with Gr. damaô, Germ. zähmen, Eng. tame; domus with demô, timber, O. H. Germ. zimber; duo with duô, zwei, two. But it is also interchanged with other sounds, and thus sometimes represents—

An original t: mendax from mentior; quadraginta, quadra, etc., from quatuor.—

An original r: ar and ad; apur or apor and apud; meridies and medidies, audio and auris; cf. arbiter, from ad-beto; arcesso for ad-cesso.—

An original l: adeps, Gr. aleipha; dacrima and lacrima, dingua and lingua; cf. on the contrary, olere for odere, consilium and considere, Ulixes from Odusseus (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 223).—

An original s: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus, medius and misos; and, on the contrary, rosa and rhodon. —

A Greek th: fides, pistis; gaudere, gêtheô; vad-i-monium (from va-d-s, vadis), aethlon.

In the oldest period of the language d was the ending of the ablat. sing. and of the adverbs which were originally ablatives (cf. Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excur. I.; Brix ad Plaut. Trin. Prol. 10): pu CNANDO, MARID, DICTATORED, IN ALTOD MARID, NAVALED PRAEDAD on the Col. Rostr.; DE SENATVOS SENTENTIAD (thrice) IN OQVOLTOD, IN POPLICOD, IN PREIVATOD, IN COVENTIONID, and the adverbs SVPRAD SCRIPTVM EST (thrice), EXSTRAD QVAM SEI, and even EXSTRAD VRBEM, in S. C. de Bacch. So intra-d, ultra-d, citra-d, contra-d, infra-d, supra-d; contro-d, intro-d, etc.; and probably interea-d, postea-d. Here too belongs, no doubt, the adverb FACILVMED, found in the last-mentioned inscription. But this use of the d became antiquated during the 3d century B.C., and is not found at all in any inscription after 186 B. C. Plautus seems to have used or omitted it at will (Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excurs. p. 18: Corss. Ausspr. 1, 197; 2, 1008).

D final was also anciently found—

In the accus. sing. of the personal pronouns med, ted, sed: INTER SED CONIOVRASE and INTER SED DEDISE, for inter se conjuravisse and inter se dedisse, in the S. C. de Bacch. This usage was retained, at least as a license of verse, when the next word began with a vowel, even in the time of Plautus. But in the classic period this d no longer appears. —

In the imperative mood;

as estod,

Fest. p. 230. The Oscan language retained this ending (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 206).—

In the preposition se-, originally identical with the conjunction sed (it is retained in the compound seditio); also in red-, prod-, antid-, postid-, etc. ( redire, prodire, etc.); and in these words, too, it is a remnant of the ancient characteristic of the ablative (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 200 sq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 49).

As an abbreviation, D usually stands for the praenomen Decimus; also for Deus, Divus, Dominus, Decurio, etc.; over epitaphs, D. M. = Diis Manibus; over temple inscriptions, D. O. M. = Deo Optimo Maxumo; in the titles of the later emperors, D. N. = Dominus Noster, and DD. NN. = Domini Nostri. Before dates of letters, D signified dabam, and also dies; hence, a. d. = ante diem; in offerings to the gods, D. D. = dono or donum dedit; D. D. D. = dat, dicat, dedicat, etc. Cf. Orell. Inscr. II. p. 457 sq.

D, d (n. indecl., sometimes f. sc. littera), the flat dental mute, corresponding in character and sound to the English d and the Greek D, was the fourth letter of the Latin alphabet, and was called de: Ter. Maur. p. 2385 P., Auson. Idyll. 12, de Litt. Monos. 14. But at the end of a syllable, or after another consonant, its sound was sharpened, so that the grammarians often discuss the question whether d or t should be written, especially in conjunctions and prepositions. Illa quoque servata est a multis differentia, ut ad cum esset praepositio, d litteram, cum autem conjunctio, t acciperet (Quint. 1, 7, 5; cf. id. 1, 4, 16). Hence we may infer that some disputed this distinction, and that the sounds of ad and at must at least have been very similar (cf. also Terent. Scaur. p. 2250, Vel. Long. p. 2230 sq., Cassiod. p. 2287, 2291). Thus also aput, it, quit, quot, aliut, set, haut are found for apud, id, quid, quod, aliud, sed, haud. It would appear from the remarks of these authors that the last two words in particular, having a proclitic character, while they distinctly retained the d sound before an initial vowel in the following word, were pronounced before a consonant almost as set, haut (Mar. Vict. p. 2462 P., Vel. Long. l. l. v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.). The use of t for d in the middle of a word, as Alexenter for Alexander, atnato for adnato, is very rare (cf. Wordsworth, Fragm. p. 486 sq.). On the other hand, the use of d for t, which sometimes appears in MSS. and inscrr., as ed, capud, essed, inquid (all of which occur in the Cod. palimps. of Cic. Rep.), adque, quodannis, sicud, etc., fecid, reliquid, etc. (all in inscriptions after the Augustan period), is to be ascribed to a later phonetic softening (cf. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 191 sq.).

As an initial, the letter d, in pure Latin words, suffers only a vowel after it; the single consonantal compound dr being found only in borrowed words, such as drama, Drusus, Druidae, etc., and in the two onomatopees drenso and drindio. Accordingly, the d of the initial dv, from du, was rejected, and the remaining v either retained unaltered (as in v iginti for du iginti; cf. triginta) or changed into b (as in b ellum, b is, b onus, for du ellum, du is, du onus; v. those words and the letter B). So too in and after the 4th century A.D., di before vowels was pronounced like j (cf. J ovis for Dj ovis, and J anus for Di anus); and hence, as the Greek di ( di) passed into dz, i. e. z (as in z a for d ia, and z eta for di aeta), we sometimes find the same name written in two or three ways, as Diabolenus, Jabolenus, Zabolenus; Jadera, Diadora, Zara. In many Greek words, however, which originally began with a y sound, d was prefixed by an instinctive effort to avoid a disagreeable utterance, just as in English the initial j has regularly assumed the sound of dj: thus Gr. zugon, i. e. diugon = L. jugum; and in such cases the d sound has been prefixed in Greek, not lost in Latin and other languages (v. Curt. Griech. Etym. p. 608 sq.).b. As a medial, d before most consonants undergoes assimilation; v. ad, no. II.; assum, init., and cf. iccirco, quippiam, quicquam, for idcirco, quidpiam, quidquam; and in contractions like cette from cedite, pelluviae from pediluviae, sella from sedela. In contractions, however, the d is sometimes dropped and a compensation effected by lengthening the preceding vowel, as scāla for scand-la. D before endings which begin with s was suppressed, as pes from ped-s, lapis from lapid-s, frons from frond-s, rasi from radsi, risi from rid-si, lusi from lud-si, clausi from claud-si; but in the second and third roots of cedo, and in the third roots of some other verbs, d is assimilated, as cessi, cessum, fossum, etc. D is also omitted before s in composition when another consonant follows the s, as ascendo, aspicio, asto, astringo, and so also before the nasal gn in agnatus, agnitus, and agnosco, from gnatus, etc.: but in other combinations it is assimilated, as assentio, acclamo, accresco; affligo, affrico; agglomero, aggrego; applico, approbo, etc. In tentum, from tendo, d is dropped to avoid the combination ndt or ntt, since euphony forbids a consonant to be doubled after another.g. Final d stood only in ad, apud, sed, and in the neuter pronouns quid, quod, illud, istud, and aliud, anciently alid. Otherwise, the ending d was considered barbarous, Prisc. p. 686 P.

The letter d represents regularly an original Indo-Germanic d, in Greek d, but which in German becomes z, in Gothic t, and in Anglo-Saxon t: cf. Gr. hêdomai, Sanscr. svad, Germ. süss, Angl.-Sax. svēte (sweet), with Lat. suadeo; domare with Gr. damaô, Germ. zähmen, Eng. tame; domus with demô, timber, O. H. Germ. zimber; duo with duô, zwei, two. But it is also interchanged with other sounds, and thus sometimes represents—

An original t: mendax from mentior; quadraginta, quadra, etc., from quatuor.—

An original r: ar and ad; apur or apor and apud; meridies and medidies, audio and auris; cf. arbiter, from ad-beto; arcesso for ad-cesso.—

An original l: adeps, Gr. aleipha; dacrima and lacrima, dingua and lingua; cf. on the contrary, olere for odere, consilium and considere, Ulixes from Odusseus (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 223).—

An original s: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus, medius and misos; and, on the contrary, rosa and rhodon. —

A Greek th: fides, pistis; gaudere, gêtheô; vad-i-monium (from va-d-s, vadis), aethlon.

In the oldest period of the language d was the ending of the ablat. sing. and of the adverbs which were originally ablatives (cf. Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excur. I.; Brix ad Plaut. Trin. Prol. 10): pu CNANDO, MARID, DICTATORED, IN ALTOD MARID, NAVALED PRAEDAD on the Col. Rostr.; DE SENATVOS SENTENTIAD (thrice) IN OQVOLTOD, IN POPLICOD, IN PREIVATOD, IN COVENTIONID, and the adverbs SVPRAD SCRIPTVM EST (thrice), EXSTRAD QVAM SEI, and even EXSTRAD VRBEM, in S. C. de Bacch. So intra-d, ultra-d, citra-d, contra-d, infra-d, supra-d; contro-d, intro-d, etc.; and probably interea-d, postea-d. Here too belongs, no doubt, the adverb FACILVMED, found in the last-mentioned inscription. But this use of the d became antiquated during the 3d century B.C., and is not found at all in any inscription after 186 B. C. Plautus seems to have used or omitted it at will (Ritschl, Neue Plaut. Excurs. p. 18: Corss. Ausspr. 1, 197; 2, 1008).

D final was also anciently found—

In the accus. sing. of the personal pronouns med, ted, sed: INTER SED CONIOVRASE and INTER SED DEDISE, for inter se conjuravisse and inter se dedisse, in the S. C. de Bacch. This usage was retained, at least as a license of verse, when the next word began with a vowel, even in the time of Plautus. But in the classic period this d no longer appears. —

In the imperative mood;

as estod,

Fest. p. 230. The Oscan language retained this ending (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 206).—

In the preposition se-, originally identical with the conjunction sed (it is retained in the compound seditio); also in red-, prod-, antid-, postid-, etc. ( redire, prodire, etc.); and in these words, too, it is a remnant of the ancient characteristic of the ablative (v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 200 sq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 49).

As an abbreviation, D usually stands for the praenomen Decimus; also for Deus, Divus, Dominus, Decurio, etc.; over epitaphs, D. M. = Diis Manibus; over temple inscriptions, D. O. M. = Deo Optimo Maxumo; in the titles of the later emperors, D. N. = Dominus Noster, and DD. NN. = Domini Nostri. Before dates of letters, D signified dabam, and also dies; hence, a. d. = ante diem; in offerings to the gods, D. D. = dono or donum dedit; D. D. D. = dat, dicat, dedicat, etc. Cf. Orell. Inscr. II. p. 457 sq.

G, g, indecl. n. or (on account of littera) f., had originally no place in the Latin alphabet: both the sharp and the flat guttural mutes, our k and g sounds, being represented by C; hence on the Columna Rostrata LECIONES, MACISTRATOS, EXFOCIONT, (pu)CNANDOD, PVCN(ad), CARTACINIENSIS, for legiones, etc.; hence, too, the archaic form ACETARE for agitare (v. Paul. ex Fest. p. 23 Müll. N. cr.), and the still common abbreviation of the names Gaius and Gneus in C and Cn.—At a later period (acc. to Plut. Qu. Rom. p. 277 D and 278 E, by means of a freedman of Spurius Carvilius Ruga, about the beginning of the second Punic war) a slight graphic alteration was made in the C, which introduced into the Roman orthography the letter G (on the old monuments C); thus we have in the S. C. de Bacchanal.: MAGISTER, MAGISTRATVM, FIGIER, GNOSCIER, AGRO; on the other hand, the orthography GNAIVOD PATRE PROGNATVS on the first Epitaph of the Scipios, which dates before that time, indicates either incorrectness in the copying or a later erection of the monument. When Greek words are written in Latin letters and vice versa, G always corresponds to G. Its sound was always hard, like Engl. g in gate, at least until the sixth century A. D.As an initial, g, in pure Latin words, enters into consonantal combination only with l and r; and therefore in words which, from their etymology, had the combination gn, the g was rejected in the classical period, and thus arose the class. forms nascor, natus, nosco, novi, notus, narus, navus, from the original gnascor, gnatus, gnosco, etc. (cf. the English gnaw, gnat, gnarr, etc., where the g has become silent); whereas in compounds the g again is often retained: cognatus, cognosco, ignarus, ignavus.—An initial g is dropped in lac (kindred to GALACT, gala), likewise in anser (kindred to Germ. Gans; Sanscr. hansa; Greek chên).As a medial, g combines with l, m, n, r, although it is sometimes elided before m in the course of formation; so in examen for exagmen from agmen; in contamino for contagmino (from con-TAG, tango). Before s the soft sound of g passes into the hard sound of c, and becomes blended with the s into x (v. the letter X); though sometimes the g (or c) is elided altogether, as in mulsi from mulgeo, indulsi from indulgeo; cf.: sparsus, mersus, tersus, etc. So too before t, as indultum from indulgeo. The medial g is often dropped between two vowels, and compensated for by lengthening the preced. vowel: māior from măgior, pulēium from pulēgium, āio from ăgio (root AG, Sanscr. ah, to say; cf. nego). Likewise the medial g is dropped in lēvis for legvis, Sanscr. laghn, fava for fagva, fruor for frugvor, flamma for flagma, stimulus for stigmulus, examen for exagmen; jumentum, from root jug-: sumen from sug-; cf.: umor, flamen, etc.As a final, g was only paragogic, acc. to Quint. 1, 7, 13, in the obsolete VESPERVG (for vesperu, analogous with noctu; v. Spald. ad loc.). Etymologically, g corresponds to an original Indo - European g or gh, or is weakened from c, k. Thus it stands where in Greek we have:

g, as ago, agô; ager, agros; argentum, arguros; genus, genos; fulgeo, phlegô, and so very commonly;

ch (usually before r, or in the middle of a word): ango, anchô; rigo, brechô; gratus, chairô, etc.;

k: viginti, eikosi; gubernator, kubernêtês; gummi, kommi, etc.—By assimilation, g was produced from b and d in oggero, suggero, aggero, etc., from obgero, sub-gero, ad-gero, etc.As an abbreviation, G denotes Galliarum, Gallica, gemina, Germania, genius, etc.; and sometimes Gaius (instead of the usual C); v. Inscr. Orell. 467; 1660; 4680:

G.P.R.F. genio populi Romani feliciter,

Inscr. Orell. 4957; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 76 sqq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 38 sqq.

G, g, indecl. n. or (on account of littera) f., had originally no place in the Latin alphabet: both the sharp and the flat guttural mutes, our k and g sounds, being represented by C; hence on the Columna Rostrata LECIONES, MACISTRATOS, EXFOCIONT, (pu)CNANDOD, PVCN(ad), CARTACINIENSIS, for legiones, etc.; hence, too, the archaic form ACETARE for agitare (v. Paul. ex Fest. p. 23 Müll. N. cr.), and the still common abbreviation of the names Gaius and Gneus in C and Cn.—At a later period (acc. to Plut. Qu. Rom. p. 277 D and 278 E, by means of a freedman of Spurius Carvilius Ruga, about the beginning of the second Punic war) a slight graphic alteration was made in the C, which introduced into the Roman orthography the letter G (on the old monuments C); thus we have in the S. C. de Bacchanal.: MAGISTER, MAGISTRATVM, FIGIER, GNOSCIER, AGRO; on the other hand, the orthography GNAIVOD PATRE PROGNATVS on the first Epitaph of the Scipios, which dates before that time, indicates either incorrectness in the copying or a later erection of the monument. When Greek words are written in Latin letters and vice versa, G always corresponds to G. Its sound was always hard, like Engl. g in gate, at least until the sixth century A. D.As an initial, g, in pure Latin words, enters into consonantal combination only with l and r; and therefore in words which, from their etymology, had the combination gn, the g was rejected in the classical period, and thus arose the class. forms nascor, natus, nosco, novi, notus, narus, navus, from the original gnascor, gnatus, gnosco, etc. (cf. the English gnaw, gnat, gnarr, etc., where the g has become silent); whereas in compounds the g again is often retained: cognatus, cognosco, ignarus, ignavus.—An initial g is dropped in lac (kindred to GALACT, gala), likewise in anser (kindred to Germ. Gans; Sanscr. hansa; Greek chên).As a medial, g combines with l, m, n, r, although it is sometimes elided before m in the course of formation; so in examen for exagmen from agmen; in contamino for contagmino (from con-TAG, tango). Before s the soft sound of g passes into the hard sound of c, and becomes blended with the s into x (v. the letter X); though sometimes the g (or c) is elided altogether, as in mulsi from mulgeo, indulsi from indulgeo; cf.: sparsus, mersus, tersus, etc. So too before t, as indultum from indulgeo. The medial g is often dropped between two vowels, and compensated for by lengthening the preced. vowel: māior from măgior, pulēium from pulēgium, āio from ăgio (root AG, Sanscr. ah, to say; cf. nego). Likewise the medial g is dropped in lēvis for legvis, Sanscr. laghn, fava for fagva, fruor for frugvor, flamma for flagma, stimulus for stigmulus, examen for exagmen; jumentum, from root jug-: sumen from sug-; cf.: umor, flamen, etc.As a final, g was only paragogic, acc. to Quint. 1, 7, 13, in the obsolete VESPERVG (for vesperu, analogous with noctu; v. Spald. ad loc.). Etymologically, g corresponds to an original Indo - European g or gh, or is weakened from c, k. Thus it stands where in Greek we have:

g, as ago, agô; ager, agros; argentum, arguros; genus, genos; fulgeo, phlegô, and so very commonly;

ch (usually before r, or in the middle of a word): ango, anchô; rigo, brechô; gratus, chairô, etc.;

k: viginti, eikosi; gubernator, kubernêtês; gummi, kommi, etc.—By assimilation, g was produced from b and d in oggero, suggero, aggero, etc., from obgero, sub-gero, ad-gero, etc.As an abbreviation, G denotes Galliarum, Gallica, gemina, Germania, genius, etc.; and sometimes Gaius (instead of the usual C); v. Inscr. Orell. 467; 1660; 4680:

G.P.R.F. genio populi Romani feliciter,

Inscr. Orell. 4957; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 76 sqq.; Roby, Lat. Gr. 1, 38 sqq.

rĕ, or with d demonstrative (see the letter D), rĕd (so, too, before vowels and h; also in red-do, and with the union-vowel i in rĕdĭ-vivus. In reicio and often in later Latin re is found before vowels and h; e. g. reaedifico, reexinanio, reinvito, etc. Assimilation of the d before consonants produced the forms relligio, relliquiae, reccido; and the suppression of the d may account for the frequent lengthening of the e by poets in rēduco, rēlatum. The orthography and quantity of words compounded with re are in general somewhat arbitrary, especially in the ante- and post-class. poets). An inseparable particle, whose fundamental signification answers to the Engl. again and against. Thus, it denotes either,

A turning back ward (Engl. back): recedo, recurro, reicio, remitto, resolvo, etc.; or,

An opposition: reboo, reclamo, redamo, reluctor, repugno; and,

Trop.

A restoration of a thing to its original condition (e. g. a freeing or loosing from a state of constraint; Engl. re-, un-): redintegro, reficio, restituo, relaxo, relego, resero, recludo, resolvo, retego, etc.—

A transition into an opposite state: recharmido, reprobo (opp. comprobo), retracto, revelo.—

A repetition of an action: recoquo, resumo, reviso, etc.—

It is sometimes intensive, as redundo.

rĕ, or with d demonstrative (see the letter D), rĕd (so, too, before vowels and h; also in red-do, and with the union-vowel i in rĕdĭ-vivus. In reicio and often in later Latin re is found before vowels and h; e. g. reaedifico, reexinanio, reinvito, etc. Assimilation of the d before consonants produced the forms relligio, relliquiae, reccido; and the suppression of the d may account for the frequent lengthening of the e by poets in rēduco, rēlatum. The orthography and quantity of words compounded with re are in general somewhat arbitrary, especially in the ante- and post-class. poets). An inseparable particle, whose fundamental signification answers to the Engl. again and against. Thus, it denotes either,

A turning back ward (Engl. back): recedo, recurro, reicio, remitto, resolvo, etc.; or,

An opposition: reboo, reclamo, redamo, reluctor, repugno; and,

Trop.

A restoration of a thing to its original condition (e. g. a freeing or loosing from a state of constraint; Engl. re-, un-): redintegro, reficio, restituo, relaxo, relego, resero, recludo, resolvo, retego, etc.—

A transition into an opposite state: recharmido, reprobo (opp. comprobo), retracto, revelo.—

A repetition of an action: recoquo, resumo, reviso, etc.—

It is sometimes intensive, as redundo.