2385

* * *

a bean, pea, legume

ălăbaster, tri, m. (plur. also ălăba-stra, n.), = alabastros, plur. -ra.

A box or casket for perfumes, tapering to a point at the top, a box for unguents: alabaster plenus unguenti, * Cic. Ac. Post. ap. Non. 545, 15:

mulier habens alabastrum unguenti,

Vulg. Matt. 26, 7; ib. Marc. 14, 3; ib. Luc. 7, 37:

redolent alabastra,

Mart. 11, 8, 9; Plin. 13, 2, 3, § 19.—Hence,

The form of a rose-bud, pointed at the top:

in virides alabastros fastigato,

Plin. 21, 4, 10, § 14.

, Calonectris diomedea diomedea

ENG Cory's shearwater

NLD Kuhls pijlstormvogel

GER Gelbschnabelsturmtaucher

FRA puffin cendre

con-sŏnus, a, um, adj., sounding together in harmony, harmonious (rare, mostly poet.).

Lit.:

clangor,

Ov. M. 13, 610:

fila lyrae,

id. Am. 1, 8, 60:

vox,

Sil. 17, 448.—

Subst.: consŏna, ae, f., = consonans, a consonant, Ter. Maur. p. 2395 P. sq.; cf.:

consona elementa,

id. p. 2385 ib.—

Trop., accordant, fit, suitable:

fila telae,

Claud. Rapt. Pros. 2, 42: credo Platonem vix putasse satis consonum fore, si, etc., * Cic. Att. 4, 16, 3; App. M. 2, p. 114. —With dat.:

consona regno juvenem docere,

Claud. Laud. Stil. 2, 69.—

* Adv.: con-sŏnē, harmoniously:

clamitare,

App. M. 1, p. 106, 34.

con-sŏnus, a, um, adj., sounding together in harmony, harmonious (rare, mostly poet.).

Lit.:

clangor,

Ov. M. 13, 610:

fila lyrae,

id. Am. 1, 8, 60:

vox,

Sil. 17, 448.—

Subst.: consŏna, ae, f., = consonans, a consonant, Ter. Maur. p. 2395 P. sq.; cf.:

consona elementa,

id. p. 2385 ib.—

Trop., accordant, fit, suitable:

fila telae,

Claud. Rapt. Pros. 2, 42: credo Platonem vix putasse satis consonum fore, si, etc., * Cic. Att. 4, 16, 3; App. M. 2, p. 114. —With dat.:

consona regno juvenem docere,

Claud. Laud. Stil. 2, 69.—

* Adv.: con-sŏnē, harmoniously:

clamitare,

App. M. 1, p. 106, 34.

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.

dendrŏphŏrus, i, m., = dendrophoros (tree-bearer).

An epithet of Sylvanus:

SILVANO DENDROPHORO SACRVM,

Inscr. Orell. 1602.—Hence,

A college of priests who carried about branches of trees in procession, in honor of a divinity, Inscr. Orell. 1602; 2385; 3741; Cod. Th. 16, 10, 20, § 2.—

A carpenter, Cod. Th. 14, 8, 1; Inscr. Grut. 45, 8.

S, s, indecl. n. or (agreeing with littera) f.

The eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, corresponding in form to the old Greek S for S (Etruscan in a reversed form,);

in its nature a sibilant semi-vowel, whose peculiarities were much discussed by the ancients, and are even treated of in a special work by Messala, a contemporary of Augustus (Messala in libro de S littera,

Quint. 1, 7, 23; cf. Mart. Cap. 3, § 245).—

As an initial and medial it has a hard and sharp sound (which is softened, however, between two vowels), and is therefore joined only with the tenues (c, p, t; cf., on the contrary, the Gr. sbennumi);

and, as a medial, often written double after long vowels: caussa, cassus, divissiones (these forms, used by Cicero and Vergil, were already uncommon in Quintilian's time,

Quint. 1, 7, 20; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 283 sq.).—

As a final it had a weakened sound, and therefore not only admitted the medial b before it (plebs, urbs, abs; Arabs, chalybs, etc.; v. the letter B), but often entirely disappeared. So in the ante-class. poets down to the early years of Cicero (and also in his own poem, entitled Aratus, written in his youth), before words beginning with a consonant, to avoid position: Ratu' Romulus, Fulviu' Nobilior, gravi' Terra, est sati' bella, Hyperioni' cursum, Virgine' nam sibi, etc.; cf. Cic. Or. 48, 161; Quint. 9, 4, 38; and v. Freund, in Jahn's Neue Jahrb. 1835, XIII. p. 25 sq.; less freq. before words beginning with a vowel, in which case, to avoid a hiatus, the vowel before s was also elided; vas' argenteis (for vasis argenteis) and palm' et crinibus (for palmis et crinibus); v. Cic. Or. 45, 153. So, too, in the fourth Epitaph of the Scipios (Inscr. Orell. 553), L. CORNELIO L. F. instead of CORNELIOS (cf. a similar elision of the M under that letter). Final s is also elided, and the preceding vowel either dropped with it or weakened, in the forms sat from satis, mage from magis; in the neutr. forms of adjectives of the third declension, acre, agreste, facile (v. the letter E); in the collat. forms of the sec. pers. sing. pass., fatere, fateare, fatebare, etc.; in the gen. sing. of the first, second, and fifth declensions, and in the nom. plur. of the first and second declensions (aurai for aura-is, analog. to reg is, etc.). Lastly, s disappears in the (mostly familiar) collat. forms abin', scin', viden', satin', from abisne, scisne, videsne, satisne, etc.—

As an etymological initial aspirate, s appears in many words whose Greek equivalents begin with a vowel: sal, semi-, serpo, sex, super, sus, corresp. to hals, hêmi-, herpô, hex, huper, us, etc.; si (archaic sei), sero, Segesta, corresp. to ei, ERÔ (whence eirô), Egesta. Less freq. in radical words beginning with a consonant: sculpo corresp. to gluphô, and the derivatives scruta, from grutê, and scrupedae, from kroupeza. To soften the termination, s appears in abs = ab, and ex corresp. to ek.—Very freq., on the contrary, an initial s appears in cognate forms in other languages, where corresp. Latin words have lost the s: Lat. fallo, Gr. sphallô; fungus, Gr. sphongos; fides, Gr. sphidê (comp. also nix with Engl. [p. 1609] snow, nurus with old Germ. snur, daughterin-law); cf. also cutis and scutum; cauda and root sku-, in Goth. skauts, etc.; casa and Gr. skia, skênê; cerno and Gr. krinô for skirnô, skôr, skôria; calumnia and skallô; gradior and root scra-, Germ. schreiten; parco and sparnos; penuria and spanis; pando and spaô; tego and stegô; tono and stonos; taurus and Sanscr. sthūras, Germ. Stier al.; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, p. 277 sqq.—In the middle of a word s is dropped in at from ast.—

S is interchanged,

Most freq. with r; in partic., an original s, between two vowels, becomes r; v. Varr. L. L. 7, § 26 Müll.; so foederum for foedesum, plurima for plusima, meliorem for meliosem, Lares for Lases, etc.; cf. eram and sum, quaero and quaeso, nasus and naris. Appius Claudius, the censor, is said to have introduced r into the names Furius, Valerius, etc., in place of s, B.C. 312 (v. the letter R, II.).—

With d: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus; and, on the other hand, rosa, corresp. to the Gr. rhodon; cf. Schneid. Gram. 1, p. 259.—

With t: tensus and tentus, resina corresp. to rhêtinê; and, on the contrary, aggrettus for aggressus; mertare, pultare, for mersare, pulsare (perh. also assentor for assensor).—

With x; v. that letter.—

S is assimilated before f in the compounds of dis: differo, difficilis, diffluo, etc.; v. 3. dis.— On the other hand, it arises by assimilation from d, in assum, assumo, cessi, for adsum, adsumo, ced-si; from t in fassus, from fateor; from b in jussi, from jubeo; from m in pressi, from premo; from r in gessi, from gero; and dossuarius, from dorsum. —

As an abbreviation, S denotes sacrum, semis, sibi, suis, etc.; S. AS. D., sub asciā dedicavit; S. C., senatusconsultum; perh. also, sententia collegii (Inscr. Orell. 2385); S. P., sua pecunia; S. P. Q. R., Senatus Populusque Romanus, etc.

S, s, indecl. n. or (agreeing with littera) f.

The eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, corresponding in form to the old Greek S for S (Etruscan in a reversed form,);

in its nature a sibilant semi-vowel, whose peculiarities were much discussed by the ancients, and are even treated of in a special work by Messala, a contemporary of Augustus (Messala in libro de S littera,

Quint. 1, 7, 23; cf. Mart. Cap. 3, § 245).—

As an initial and medial it has a hard and sharp sound (which is softened, however, between two vowels), and is therefore joined only with the tenues (c, p, t; cf., on the contrary, the Gr. sbennumi);

and, as a medial, often written double after long vowels: caussa, cassus, divissiones (these forms, used by Cicero and Vergil, were already uncommon in Quintilian's time,

Quint. 1, 7, 20; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 283 sq.).—

As a final it had a weakened sound, and therefore not only admitted the medial b before it (plebs, urbs, abs; Arabs, chalybs, etc.; v. the letter B), but often entirely disappeared. So in the ante-class. poets down to the early years of Cicero (and also in his own poem, entitled Aratus, written in his youth), before words beginning with a consonant, to avoid position: Ratu' Romulus, Fulviu' Nobilior, gravi' Terra, est sati' bella, Hyperioni' cursum, Virgine' nam sibi, etc.; cf. Cic. Or. 48, 161; Quint. 9, 4, 38; and v. Freund, in Jahn's Neue Jahrb. 1835, XIII. p. 25 sq.; less freq. before words beginning with a vowel, in which case, to avoid a hiatus, the vowel before s was also elided; vas' argenteis (for vasis argenteis) and palm' et crinibus (for palmis et crinibus); v. Cic. Or. 45, 153. So, too, in the fourth Epitaph of the Scipios (Inscr. Orell. 553), L. CORNELIO L. F. instead of CORNELIOS (cf. a similar elision of the M under that letter). Final s is also elided, and the preceding vowel either dropped with it or weakened, in the forms sat from satis, mage from magis; in the neutr. forms of adjectives of the third declension, acre, agreste, facile (v. the letter E); in the collat. forms of the sec. pers. sing. pass., fatere, fateare, fatebare, etc.; in the gen. sing. of the first, second, and fifth declensions, and in the nom. plur. of the first and second declensions (aurai for aura-is, analog. to reg is, etc.). Lastly, s disappears in the (mostly familiar) collat. forms abin', scin', viden', satin', from abisne, scisne, videsne, satisne, etc.—

As an etymological initial aspirate, s appears in many words whose Greek equivalents begin with a vowel: sal, semi-, serpo, sex, super, sus, corresp. to hals, hêmi-, herpô, hex, huper, us, etc.; si (archaic sei), sero, Segesta, corresp. to ei, ERÔ (whence eirô), Egesta. Less freq. in radical words beginning with a consonant: sculpo corresp. to gluphô, and the derivatives scruta, from grutê, and scrupedae, from kroupeza. To soften the termination, s appears in abs = ab, and ex corresp. to ek.—Very freq., on the contrary, an initial s appears in cognate forms in other languages, where corresp. Latin words have lost the s: Lat. fallo, Gr. sphallô; fungus, Gr. sphongos; fides, Gr. sphidê (comp. also nix with Engl. [p. 1609] snow, nurus with old Germ. snur, daughterin-law); cf. also cutis and scutum; cauda and root sku-, in Goth. skauts, etc.; casa and Gr. skia, skênê; cerno and Gr. krinô for skirnô, skôr, skôria; calumnia and skallô; gradior and root scra-, Germ. schreiten; parco and sparnos; penuria and spanis; pando and spaô; tego and stegô; tono and stonos; taurus and Sanscr. sthūras, Germ. Stier al.; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, p. 277 sqq.—In the middle of a word s is dropped in at from ast.—

S is interchanged,

Most freq. with r; in partic., an original s, between two vowels, becomes r; v. Varr. L. L. 7, § 26 Müll.; so foederum for foedesum, plurima for plusima, meliorem for meliosem, Lares for Lases, etc.; cf. eram and sum, quaero and quaeso, nasus and naris. Appius Claudius, the censor, is said to have introduced r into the names Furius, Valerius, etc., in place of s, B.C. 312 (v. the letter R, II.).—

With d: Claudius, from the Sabine Clausus; and, on the other hand, rosa, corresp. to the Gr. rhodon; cf. Schneid. Gram. 1, p. 259.—

With t: tensus and tentus, resina corresp. to rhêtinê; and, on the contrary, aggrettus for aggressus; mertare, pultare, for mersare, pulsare (perh. also assentor for assensor).—

With x; v. that letter.—

S is assimilated before f in the compounds of dis: differo, difficilis, diffluo, etc.; v. 3. dis.— On the other hand, it arises by assimilation from d, in assum, assumo, cessi, for adsum, adsumo, ced-si; from t in fassus, from fateor; from b in jussi, from jubeo; from m in pressi, from premo; from r in gessi, from gero; and dossuarius, from dorsum. —

As an abbreviation, S denotes sacrum, semis, sibi, suis, etc.; S. AS. D., sub asciā dedicavit; S. C., senatusconsultum; perh. also, sententia collegii (Inscr. Orell. 2385); S. P., sua pecunia; S. P. Q. R., Senatus Populusque Romanus, etc.