sĕnesco

* * *

sĕnesco, nŭi, 3 ( gerundive:

senescendi homines,

Varr. L. L. 6, § 11 Müll. N. cr.), v. inch. n. [seneo], to grow old, become aged; to grow hoary.

Lit. (rare):

ita sensim aetas senescit,

Cic. Sen. 11, 38; cf.:

tempora labuntur tacitisque senescimus annis,

Ov. F. 6, 771:

senescente jam Graeciā,

Cic. Rep. 1, 37, 58:

solve senescentem mature equum,

Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 8:

arbores senescunt,

Plin. 16, 27, 50, § 116: Solon significat se cottidie aliquid addiscentem senescere. Val. Max. 8, 7, 14.—In perf.:

avus (Augusti) tranquillissime senuit,

Suet. Aug. 2:

ego senui et progressioris aetatis sum,

Vulg. Josne, 23, 2.—In gerundive: longissimum spatium senescendorum hominum id (seclum) putarant, Varr. L. L. 6, § 11 Müll. N. cr. —

Transf.

For the usual consenescere, to grow old or gray in an occupation, etc., i. e. to linger too long over it:

inani circa voces studio senescunt,

Quint. 8, prooem. § 18.—

(Causa pro effectu.) To decay or diminish in strength; to grow weak, feeble, or powerless; to waste away, fall off, wane, decline, etc. (the prevailing signif. of the word in prose and poetry; cf. consenesco; while inveterasco is to grow better by age).

Of living subjects (a favorite expression of Livy;

perh. not in Cic., but cf. consenesco, II. 2.): Hannibalem jam et famā senescere et viribus,

Liv. 29, 3 fin.; cf.

of the same,

id. 22, 39:

otio senescere,

id. 25, 7:

non esse cum aegro senescendum,

id. 21, 53:

dis hominibusque accusandis senescere,

to pine away, id. 5, 43 Drak.; cf.:

amore senescit habendi,

Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 85:

socordiā,

Tac. A. 1, 9; Val. Max. 8, 13, 7:

ne (agni) desiderio senescant,

Varr. R. R. 2, 2, 17.—

Of doves,

Col. 8, 8, 4:

quod antiquatur et senescit prope interitum est,

Vulg. Heb. 8, 13.—

Of things:

quaedam faciunda in agris potius crescente lunā quam senescente,

in the waning of the moon, Varr. R. R. 1, 37, 1; so,

luna (opp. crescens),

Cic. N. D. 2, 37, 95; Plin. 2, 9, 6, § 42:

arbores hiemali tempore cum lunā simul senescentes,

Cic. Div. 2, 14, 33:

nunc pleno orbe, nunc senescente (al. senescentem) exiguo cornu fulgere lunam,

Liv. 44, 37:

continuā messe senescit ager,

becomes exhausted, worn out, Ov. A. A. 3, 82:

prata,

Plin. 18, 28, 67, § 259: uniones, i. e. grow pale or dim, id. 9, 35, 56, § 115; cf.

smaragdi,

id. 37, 5, 18, § 70:

caseus in salem,

grows salt with age, id. 11, 42, 97, § 242: coma, falls out, Domit. ap. Suet. Dom. 18 fin.: monumenta virūm, decay (with delapsa), Lucr. 5, 312 et saep.:

mensis senescens,

drawing to an end, closing, Varr. L. L. 6, § 10 Müll.; so,

hiems,

Cic. N. D. 2, 19, 49.—Of abstr. things:

oratorum laus senescit,

Cic. Tusc. 2, 2, 5; cf.:

ut laus senescens,

id. de Or. 2, 2, 7:

senescere civitatem otio,

Liv. 1, 22, 2:

omnia orta occidunt et aucta senescunt,

Sall. J. 2, 3; cf. Fabri ad Sall. C. 20, 10; so,

somnia,

Sall. J. 35, 3:

vires,

id. H. Fragm. 3, 22, p. 235 Gerl.; Liv. 9, 27:

Hannibalis vis,

id. 25, 16:

bellum,

id. 28, 36; 30, 19:

pugna,

id. 5, 21:

fama,

id. 27, 20; Tac. H. 2, 24; cf.

rumores,

id. A. 2, 77:

consilia,

Liv. 35, 12:

vitia (opp. maturescente virtute),

id. 3, 12:

invidia,

id. 29, 22:

fortuna (opp. florere),

Vell. 2, 11, 3:

amor,

Ov. A. A. 3, 594.

con-sĕnesco, nŭi, 3, v. inch., to grow old together, to grow or become old or gray (class. in prose and poetry).

Lit.:

(Baucis et Philemon) illā consenuere casā,

Ov. M. 8, 634: socerorum in armis, * Hor. C. 3, 5, 8; cf.:

in patriā meā,

Ov. Tr. 4, 8, 12:

alieno in agro (exercitus),

Liv. 9, 19, 6:

in exilio,

id. 35, 34, 7:

in ultimo terrarum orbis angulo,

Vell. 2, 102, 3:

circa Casilinum Cumasque,

Liv. 30, 20, 9:

Smyrnae,

Suet. Gram. 6.—

Meton.

In Quint., to grow old or gray in an occupation, to follow it too long:

in commentariis rhetorum,

Quint. 3, 8, 67 in quā umbrā, id. 10, 5, 17; and:

in unā ejus specie,

id. 12, 11, 16.—

In a more general sense (causa pro effectu), to become weak, infirm, powerless, to waste away, fall into disuse, decay, fade, lose force, etc.

With living subjects:

prae maerore atque aegritudine,

Plaut. Stich. 1, 3, 63; cf. id. Capt. 1, 2, 25:

in manibus alicujus et gremio maerore et lacrimis,

Cic. Clu. 5, 13; Liv. 35, 34, 7:

(columbae) si inclusae consenescunt,

Varr. R. R. 3, 7, 6; so id. ib. 3, 9, 14:

veturno,

Col. 7, 5, 3.—

Trop., to lose consideration or respect: omnes illius partis auctores ac socios nullo adversario consenescere. Cic. Att. 2, 23, 2.—

With inanimate subjects: ova consenescunt, Varr R. R. 3, 9, 8; cf.:

vinea soli vitio consenuit,

Col. 4, 22, 8:

veru in manibus,

Plaut. Rud. 5, 2, 15; cf.:

consenuit haec tabula carie,

Plin. 35, 10, 36, § 91: haut ulla carina Consenuit, not one has grown old, i. e. all have perished, Prop. 3, 7 (4, 6), 36: (nobis) viget aetas, animus valet; contra illis annis atque divitiis omnia consenuerunt, Sall. C. 20, 10 Kritz and Fabri:

quamvis consenuerint vires atque defecerint,

Cic. Sen. 9, 29;

with vires,

Liv. 6, 23, 7:

animum quoque patris consenuisse in adfecto corpore,

id. 9, 3, 8: noster amicus Magnus, cujus cognomen unā cum Crassi Divitis cognomine consenescit. Cic. Att. 2, 13, 2:

veteres leges aut. ipsā suā vetustate consenuisse aut novis legibus esse sublatas,

id. de Or. 1, 58, 247;

so of laws,

Liv. 3, 31, 7:

invidia,

Cic. Clu. 2, 5:

rabies et impetus,

Flor. 3, 3, 5:

oratio dimetiendis pedibus,

Quint. 9, 4, 112.

sĕnex, sĕnis (nom. and acc. of the neutr. plur. in the posit. and of the neutr. sing. in the comp. do not occur; orig. gen. sĕnicis, Plaut. Fragm. ap. Prisc. p. 724 P.), adj. [Sanscr. sana-s, old; Gr. henos, henê, old; cf.: senium, senesco, senatus, senilis, senectus, Seneca] ( comp. senior), old, aged, advanced in years; and subst., an aged person, an old man, old woman (from the latter half of the fortieth year onward; v. infra the passages from Gell. 10, 28, 1, and from Liv. 30, 30; cf.: annosus, longaevus, vetulus).

Adj.:

(paterfamilias) vendat boves vetulos, plostrum vetus, ferramenta vetera, servum senem, etc.,

Cato, R. R. 2, 7:

hic est vetus, vietus, veternosus senex,

Ter. Eun. 4, 4, 21: nam vere pusus tu, tua amica senex, Papin. ap. Varr. L. L. 7, § 28 Müll.:

turpe senex miles, turpe senilis amor,

Ov. Am. 1, 9, 4:

cervi,

id. A. A. 3, 78:

latrans,

Phaedr. 5, 10, 7:

porci,

Juv. 6, 159:

cygni,

Mart. 5, 37, 1:

mulli,

id. 10, 30, 24:

Bacchus (i. e. vinum),

id. 13, 23; cf.

of the same, auctumni,

id. 3, 58, 7:

Damascena (pruna),

id. 5, 18, 3 et saep.:

admodum senex,

Cic. Sen. 4, 10:

nemo est tam senex qui se annum non putet posse vivere,

id. ib. 7, 24:

nomen Nostra tuum senibus loqueretur pagina seclis,

in later ages, Verg. Cir. 40.— Comp.:

grandior seniorque,

Lucr. 3, 955:

Cato, quo erat nemo fere senior temporibus illis,

Cic. Lael. 1, 5:

quae vis senior est quam, etc.,

id. Leg. 2, 4, 9:

corpora seniora,

Cels. 5, 28, 4:

anni,

Ov. M. 15, 470:

dens,

Mart. 9, 58, 11:

cadus,

id. 9, 94, 2.—Rarely with aetate:

Sophocles, aetate jam senior,

Val. Max. 4, 3, 2 ext.:

nobis adulescentibus seniores in agendo facti praecipere solebant, ne, etc.,

Quint. 5, 6, 6:

senior ut ita dicam, quam illa aetas ferebat, oratio,

more mature, Cic. Brut. 43, 160.—

Subst.:

ut tum ad senem senex de senectute, sic, etc.,

Cic. Lael. 1, 5: quos ait Caccilius comicos stul [p. 1670] tos senes, etc.... ut petulantia magis est adulescentium quam senum... sic ista senilis stultitia senum levium est... Appius et caecus et senex, etc.... senem, in quo est adulescentis aliquid, probo, etc., id. Sen. 11, 36 sq.:

senem in patriam revertentem, unde puer profectus sum (the words of Hannibal, who was not yet fifty years of age),

Liv. 30, 30:

mixta senum ac juvenum densentur funera,

Hor. C. 1, 28, 19; cf.:

haec recinunt juvenes dictata senesque,

id. Ep. 1, 1, 55:

aeque neglectum pueris senibusque nocebit,

id. ib. 1, 1, 26:

ter aevo functus senex,

i. e. Nestor, id. C. 2, 9, 14:

tun' capite cano amas, senex nequissime?

Plaut. Merc. 2, 2, 34:

quo senex nequior nullus vivit,

id. Cas. 5, 1, 10:

te sene omnium senem neminem esse ignaviorem,

id. ib. 2, 3, 28 et saep.— Fem.:

hanc tot mala ferre senem,

this old woman, Tib. 1, 6, 82; Val. Fl. 1, 349; Stat. Th. 5, 149.— Comp., an elder, elderly person; sometimes (esp. in the poets) also for senex, an aged person:

facilius sanescit puer vel adulescens quam senior,

Cels. 5, 26, 6:

si quis Forte coheredum senior male tussiet,

Hor. S. 2, 5, 107:

vix ea fatus erat senior (i. e. Anchises),

Verg. A. 2, 692; so,

= senex,

Ov. M. 1, 645; 2, 702; 11, 646; 12, 182; 12, 540; id. F. 4, 515; Stat. S. 1, 3, 94; id. Achill. 2, 383 al.:

(Servius Tullius) seniores a junioribus divisit,

Cic. Rep. 2, 22, 39; cf.

of the same: C. Tubero in Historiarum primo scripsit, Servium Tullium... eos (milites) ab anno septimo decimo ad annum quadragesimum sextum juniores, supraque eum annum seniores appellasse,

Gell. 10, 28, 1:

centuriae juniorum seniorumque,

Liv. 1, 43.— Poet.:

centuriae seniorum simply, for seniores,

Hor. A. P. 341:

curae fuit consulibus et senioribus Patrum, ut, etc.,

Liv. 2, 30:

consulares ac seniores (opp. juniores Patrum),

id. 3, 41:

omnium seniorum, matrum familiae, virginum precibus et fletu excitati,

Caes. B. C. 2, 4:

sapienter, ut senior, suaserat,

Flor. 1, 16, 10:

juniores a senioribus consilium petiverunt,

id. 2, 6, 26:

haec... laeti audiere juvenes, ingrata senioribus erant,

Curt. 8, 1, 27:

hinc inter juniores senesque orta contentio est,

id. 8, 1, 31.—In eccl. Lat., an elder in the synagogue or church, Vulg. Ezech. 7, 26; id. 2 Johan. 1.