some authors derived it from

ζείδωρος, ον,

A zea-giving (Plin.HN18.82, EM410.6), as epith. of the earth,

ζείδωρος ἄρουρα Il.2.548

, Od.3.3, Hes.Op. 173;

ζ. ἀρδμός Nonn.D.26.185

: c. gen.,

ζ. ὀπώρης ἀχράς AP9.4

(Cyllen.): also in late Prose, Hld.9.22 ( ζε (ϝ) έ-δωρος, cf. ζέα).

II some authors derived it from ζάω,= βιόδωρος (so expld. by Hsch.), life-giving,

Ἀφροδίτη Emp.151

;

Ἠέλιος Nonn.D.12.23

, cf. 22.276. [full] ζείζιν, mamma, Gloss.

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.)

= a good deal of, a great deal of, a large degree of, a mass of, a plethora of, a supply of, a vast amount of, a city of, a wealth of, a sea of, a cascade of, an army of, a good many, a huge number of, a great number of, a multitude of, scores of, a host of, a vast corpus of, a whole host of

Ex. There is a good deal of scope for users and novice cataloguers to find difficulty in identifying the appropriate heading for many of the works which are the responsibility of corporate bodies.

Ex. As earlier sections amply demonstrate, there is a great deal of choice with regards to data bases.

Ex. The floor is carpeted, thus providing a large degree of acoustic absorption and a unifying and dominant colour pattern through the library.

Ex. Flaws are emphasized and frequent comparisons made with similar tools, but these are often buried in a mass of minutiae.

Ex. A good thesaurus is not necessarily one that has been published with a plethora of effective relationship displays.

Ex. If your library has decided to operate this way, there will be a supply of preprinted labels at the circulation desk.

Ex. This 15 page report has a vast amount of valuable information between its covers derived from a variety of sources.

Ex. This article outlines the preparatory stages and describes some of the problems presented by the physical conditions in a city of tents either drenched by rain or smothered by dust = Este artículo esboza las etapas preparatorias y describe algunos de los problemas que presentan las condiciones físicas de una gran cantidad de tiendas de campaña empapadas por la lluvia o cubiertas por el polvo.

Ex. Such reports often make available a wealth of factual and statistical information which is not published elsewhere in such detail.

Ex. In 'upper town' streets are broad, quiet, and tree-shaded; the homes are tall and heavy and look like battleships, each anchored in its private sea of grass.

Ex. Managers, overwhelmed by a cascade of documents, tend to turn away from print.

Ex. The UK government will need to mobilize an 'army' of 30,000 civil servants to solve the Year 2000 problem.

Ex. A good many heavily gilt retailers' bindings (such as the small English devotional books that were sold in large numbers from the 1560s until the later seventeenth century) were indeed intended to look expensive while really being cheaply executed.

Ex. A user searching for Smith's 'History as Argument' who was not sure under which subject it would be entered, would have to prowl through a huge number of cards in a card catalog to find the entry under SMITH.

Ex. Environmental organization receive a great number of public enquiries by phone and letter.

Ex. In the midst of an industrialized and bureaucratized society made up of multitudes of people we live separate lives = En medio de una sociedad industrializada y burocratizada compuesta de una gran cantidad de gente, vivimos vidas distintas.

Ex. Popular authors receive scores, in some cases hundreds, of letters a year from their young readers and every correspondent, I am quite sure, wants a reply.

Ex. There is a host of legislative, political, financial, consumer, and other reports of individuals and corporate bodies.

Ex. Basically, the book deals with a vast corpus of oral tradition, including both prose and poetic texts.

Ex. If you want to buy a spit roaster beware; a whole host of illegal spit roasters are now on the market in the UK.

* * *

I) prep.

A. with dative.

I. Of motion;

1) towards, against;

Otkell laut at Skamkatli, bowed down to S.;

hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge against A.;

2) close atup to;

Brynjólfr gengr alit at honum, quite up to him;

þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters with him;

3) to, at;

koma at landi, to come to land;

ganga at dómi, to go into court;

4) along (= eptir);

ganga at stræti, to walk along the street;

dreki er niðr fór at ánni (went down the river) fyrir strauminum;

refr dró hörpu at ísi, on the ice;

5) denoting hostility;

renna (sœkja) at e-m, to rush at, assault;

gerði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog;

6) around;

vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a veil round one’s head;

bera grjót at e-m, to heap stones upon the body;

7) denoting business, engagement;

ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after horses, watching sheep;

fara at landskuldum, to go collecting rents.

II. Of position, &c.;

1) denoting presence at, near, by, upon;

at kirkju, at church;

at dómi, in court;

at lögbergi, at the hill of laws;

2) denoting participation in;

vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, wedding;

vera at vígi, to be an accessory in man-slaying;

3) ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at;

kvalararnir, er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him;

var þar at kona nökkur at binda (was there busy dressing) sár manna;

4) with proper names of places (farms);

konungr at Danmörku ok Noregi, king of;

biskup at Hólum, bishop of Holar;

at Helgafelli, at Bergþórshváli;

5) used ellipt. with a genitive, at (a person’s) house;

at hans (at his house) gisti fjölmenni mikit;

at Marðar, at Mara’s home;

at hins beilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church;

at Ránar, at Ran’s (abode).

III. Of time;

1) at, in;

at upphafi, at first, in the beginning;

at skilnaði, at parting, when they parted;

at páskum, at Easter;

at kveldi, at eventide;

at þinglausnum, at the close of the Assembly;

at fjöru, at the ebb;

at flœðum, at the floodtide;

2) adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr’;

at ári komanda, next year;

at vári, er kemr, next spring;

generally with ‘komanda’ understood;

at sumri, hausti, vetri, vári, next summer, &c.;

3) used with an absolute dative and present or past part.;

at sér lifanda, duing his lifetime;

at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all;

at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the hearing of the chief;

at upprennandi sólu, at sunrise;

at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks are past;

at honum önduðum, after his death;

4) denoting uninterrupted succession, after;

hverr at öðrum, annarr at öðrum, one after another;

skildu menn at þessu, thereupon, after this;

at því (thereafter) kómu aðrar meyjar.

IV. fig. and in various uses;

1) to, into, with the notion of destruction or change;

brenna (borgina) at ösku, to burn to ashes;

verða at ormi, to become a snake;

2) for, as;

gefa e-t at gjöf, as a present;

eiga e-n at vin, to have one as friend;

3) by;

taka sverð at hjöltum, by the hilt;

draga út björninn at hlustunum, by the ears;

kjósa at afli, álitum, by strength, appearrance;

4) as regards as to;

auðigr at fé, wealthy in goods;

vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face;

5) as a law term, on the grounds of, by reason of;

ryðja ( to challenge) dóm at mægðum, kvið at frændsemi;

6) as a paraphrase of a genitive;

faðir, móðir at barni (= barns, of a child);

aðili at sök = aðili sakar;

7) with adjectives denoting colour, size, age, of;

hvítr, svartr, rauðr at lit, while, black, red of colour;

mikill, lítill at stœrð, vexti, tall, small of stature;

tvítugr at aldri, twenty years of age;

kýr at fyrsta, öðrum kálfi, a cow that has calved once, twice;

8) determining the source from which anything comes, of, from;

Ari nam ok marga frœði at Þuríði (from her);

þiggja, kaupa, geta, leigja e-t at e-m, to receive, buy, obtain, borrow a thing from one;

hafa veg (virðing) styrk at e-m, to derive honour, power, from one;

9) according, to, after (heygðr at fornum sið);

at ráði allra vitrustu manna, by the advice of;

at landslögum, by the law of the land;

at vánum, as was to be expected;

at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave;

10) in adverbial phrases;

gróa (vera grœddr) at heilu, to be quite healed;

bíta af allt gras at snøggu, quite bare;

at fullu, fully;

at vísu, surely;

at frjálsu, freely;

at eilífu, for ever and ever;

at röngu, at réttu, wrongly, rightly;

at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same;

at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent.

B. with acc., after, upon (= eptir);

sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, to take the inheritance after his father;

eiga féránsdóm at e-n, to hold a court of execution upon a person;

at þat (= eptir þat), after that, thereafter;

connected with a past part. or a., at Gamla fallinn, after the fall of Gamli;

at Hrungni dauðan, upon the death of Hrungnir.

1) as the simple mark of the infinitive, to;

at ganga, at ríða, at hlaupa, to walk, to ride, to run;

2) in an objective sense;

hann bauð þeim at fara, sitja, he bade (ordered) them to go, sit;

gefa e-m at eta, at drekka, to give one to eat, to drink;

3) denoting design or purpose, in order to (hann gekk í borg at kaupa silfr).

1) demonstrative particle before a comparative, the, all the, so much the;

hón grét at meir, she wept the more;

þykkir oss at líkara, all the more likely;

þú ert maðr at verri (so much the worse), er þú hefir þetta mælt;

2) rel. pron., who, which, that (= er);

þeir allir, at þau tíðindi heyrðu, all those who heard;

sem þeim er títt, at ( as is the custom of those who) kaupferðir reka.

conj., that;

1) introducing a subjective or objective clause;

þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, it happened once that H.;

vilda ek, at þú réðist austr í fjörðu, I should like you to go;

2) relative to svá, denoting proportion, degree;

svá mikill lagamaðr, at, so great a lawyer, that;

3) with subj., denoting end or purpose, in order that (skáru þeir fyrir þá (viz. hestana) melinn, at þeir dœi eigi af sulti);

4) since, because, as (= því at);

5) connected with þó, því, svá;

þó at (with subj.), though, although;

því at, because, for;

svá at, so that;

6) temp., þá at (= þá er), when;

þegar at (= þegar er), as soon as;

þar til at (= þar til er), until, till;

áðr at (= á. en), before;

7) used superfluously after an int. pron. or adv.;

Ólafr spurði, hvern styrk at hann mundi fá honum, what help he was likely to give him;

in a relative sense; með fullkomnum ávexti, hverr at (which) þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða.

negative verbal suffix, = ata; var-at, was not.

n. an incited conflict or fight ( see etja);

odda at, Yggs at, battle.

* * *

and að, prep., often used ellipt. dropping the case and even merely as an adverb, [Lat. ad; Ulf. at = πρός and παρά, A. S. ät; Engl. at; Hel. ad = apud; O. H. G. az; lost in mod. Germ., and rare in Swed. and Dan.; in more freq. use in Engl. than any other kindred language, Icel. only excepted]:—the mod. pronunciation and spelling is að (aþ); this form is very old, and is found in Icel. vellum MSS. of the 12th century, e. g. aþ, 623. 60; yet in earlier times it was sounded with a tenuis, as we may infer from rhymes, e. g. jöfurr hyggi at | hve ek yrkja fat, Egill: Sighvat also makes it rhyme with a t. The verse by Thorodd—þar vastu at er fjáðr klæðið þvat (Skálda 162)—is hardly intelligible unless we accept the spelling with an aspirate (að), and say that þvað is = þvá = þváði, lavabat; it may be that by the time of Thorodd and Ari the pure old pronunciation was lost, or is ‘þvat’ simply the A. S. þvât, secuit? The Icelanders still, however, keep the tenuis in compounds before a vowel, or before h, v, or the liquids l, r, thus—atyrða, atorka, athöfn, athugi, athvarf, athlægi; atvinna, atvik; atlaga, atlíðanði ( slope), atriði, atreið, atróðr: but aðdjúpr, aðfinsla (critic), aðferð, aðkoma, aðsókn, aðsúgr (crowding), aðgæzla. In some words the pronunciation is irregular, e. g. atkvæði not aðkv-; atburðr, but aðbúnaðr; aðhjúkran not athjúkran; atgörvi not aðgörfi. At, to, towards; into; against; along, by; in regard to; after.

Mostly with dat.; rarely with acc.; and sometimes ellipt.—by dropping the words ‘home,’ ‘house,’ or the like—with gen.

WITH DAT.

A. LOC.

I. WITH MOTION; gener. the motion to the borders, limits of an object, and thus opp. to frá:

1. towards, against, with or without the notion of arrival, esp. connected with verbs denoting motion (verba movendi et eundi), e. g. fara, ganga, koma, lúta, snúa, rétta at…; Otkell laut at Skamkatli, O. louted (i. e. bowed down) towards S., Nj. 77, Fms. xi. 102; sendimaðrinn sneri ( turned) hjöltum sverðsins at konungi, towards the king, i. 15; hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge towards A., Nj. 220; rétta e-t at e-m, to reach, hand over, Ld. 132; ganga at, to step towards, Ísl. ii. 259.

2. denoting proximity, close up to, up to; Brynjólfr gengr … allt at honum, B. goes quite up to him, Nj. 58; Gunnarr kom þangat at þeim örunum, G. reached them even there with his arrows, 115; þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters, id.; reið maðr at þeim (up to them), 274; þeir höfðu rakit sporin allt at ( right up to) gammanum, Fms. i. 9; komu þeir at sjó fram, came down to the sea, Bárð. 180.

3. without reference to the space traversed, to or at; koma at landi, to land, Ld. 38, Fms. viii. 358; ríða at dyrum, Boll. 344; hlaupa at e-m, to run up to, run at, Fms. vii. 218, viii. 358; af sjáfarganginum er hann gekk at landinu, of the surf dashing against the shore, xi. 6; vísa ólmum hundi at manni, to set a fierce hound at a man, Grág. ii. 118; leggja e-n at velli, to lay low, Eg. 426, Nj. 117; hníga at jörðu, at grasi, at moldu, to bite the dust, to die, Njarð. 378; ganga at dómi, a law term, to go into court, of a plaintiff, defendant, or bystander, Nj. 87 (freq.)

4. denoting a motion along, into, upon; ganga at stræti, to walk along the street, Korm. 228, Fms. vii. 39; at ísi, on the ice, Skálda 198, Fms. vii. 19, 246, viii. 168, Eb. 112 new Ed. (á is perh. wrong); máttu menn ganga bar yfir at skipum einum, of ships alone used as a bridge, Fas. i. 378; at höfðum, at nám, to trample on the slain on the battle-field, Lex. Poët.; at ám, along the rivers; at merkiósum, at the river’s mouth, Grág. ii. 355; at endilöngu baki, all along its back, Sks. 100.

5. denoting hostility, to rush at, assault; renna at, hlaupa at, ganga, fara, ríða, sækja, at e-m, (v. those words), whence the nouns atrenna, athlaup, atgangr, atför, atreið, atsókn, etc.

β. metaph., kom at þeim svefnhöfgi, deep sleep fell on them, Nj. 104. Esp. of weather, in the impers. phrase, hríð, veðr, vind, storm görir at e-m, to be overtaken by a snow storm, gale, or the like; görði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog, Bárð. 171.

6. denoting around, of clothing or the like; bregða skikkju at höfði sér, to wrap his cloak over his head, Ld. 62; vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a snood round her head, 188; sauma at, to stick, cling close, as though sewn on; sauma at höndum sér, of tight gloves, Bs. i. 453; kyrtill svá þröngr sem saumaðr væri at honum, as though it were stitched to him, Nj. 214; vafit at vándum dreglum, tight laced with sorry tags, id.; hosa strengd fast at beini, of tight hose, Eg. 602; hann sveipar at sér iðrunum ok skyrtunni, he gathers up the entrails close to him and the skirt too, Gísl. 71; laz at síðu, a lace on the side, to keep the clothes tight, Eg. 602.

β. of burying; bera grjót at einum, to heap stones upon the body, Eg. 719; var gör at þeim dys or grjóti, Ld. 152; gora kistu at líki, to make a coffin for a body, Eb. 264, Landn. 56, Ld. 142.

γ. of summoning troops or followers; stefna at sér mönnum, to summon men to him, Nj. 104; stefna at sér liði, Eg. 270; kippa mönnum at sér, to gather men in haste, Ld. 64.

7. denoting a business, engagement; ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after after horses, watching sheep, Glúm. 362, Nj. 75; fara at fé, to go to seek for sheep, Ld. 240; fara at heyi, to go a-haymaking, Dropl. 10; at veiðum, a-hunting; at fuglum, a-fowling; at dýrum, a-sbooting; at fiski, a-fishing; at veiðiskap, Landn. 154, Orkn. 416 (in a verse), Nj. 25; fara at landskuldum, to go a-collecling rents, Eg. 516; at Finnkaupum, a-marketing with Finns, 41; at féföngum, a-plundering, Fms. vii. 78; ganga at beina, to wait on guests, Nj. 50; starfa at matseld, to serve at table, Eb. 266; hitta e-n at nauðsynjum, on matters of business; at máli, to speak with one, etc., Fms. xi. 101; rekast at e-m, to pursue one, ix. 404; ganga at liði sér, to go suing for help, Grág. ii. 384.

β. of festivals; snúa, fá at blóti, veizlu, brullaupi, to prepare for a sacrificial banquet, wedding, or the like, hence at-fangadagr, Eb. 6, Ld. 70; koma at hendi, to happen, befall; ganga at sínu, to come by one’s own, to take it, Ld. 208; Egill drakk hvert full er at honum kom, drained every horn that came to him, Eg. 210; komast at keyptu, to purchase dearly, Húv. 46.

8. denoting imaginary motion, esp. of places, cp. Lat. spectare, vergere ad…, to look or lie towards; horfði botninn at höfðanum, the bight of the bay looked toward the headland, Fms. i. 340, Landn. 35; also, skeiðgata liggr at læknum, leads to the brook, Ísl. ii. 339; á þann arminn er vissi at sjánum, on that wing which looked toward the sea, Fms. viii. 115; sár þau er horft höfðu at Knúti konungi, xi. 309.

β. even connected with verbs denoting motion; Gilsáreyrr gengr austan at Fljótinu, G. extends, projects to F. from the east, Hrafh. 25; hjá sundi því, er at gengr þingstöðinni, Fms. xi. 85.

II. WITHOUT MOTION; denoting presence at, near, by, at the side of, in, upon; connected with verbs like sitja, standa, vera…; at kirkju, at church, Fms. vii. 251, K. f). K. 16, Ld. 328, Ísl. ii. 270, Sks. 36; vera at skála, at húsi, to be in, at home, Landn. 154; at landi, Fms. i. 82; at skipi, on shipboard, Grág. i. 209, 215; at oldri, at a banquet, inter pocula; at áti, at dinner, at a feast, inter edendum, ii. 169, 170; at samförum ok samvistum, at public meetings, id.; at dómi, in a court; standa (to take one’s stand) norðan, sunnan, austan, vestan at dómi, freq. in the proceedings at trials in lawsuits, Nj.; at þingi, present at the parliament, Grág. i. 142; at lögbergi, o n the hill of laws, 17, Nj.; at baki e-m, at the back of.

2. denoting presence, partaking in; sitja at mat, to sit at meat, Fms. i. 241; vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, nuptials, Nj. 51, Ld. 70: a law term, vera at vígi, to be an accessory in manslaying, Nj. 89, 100; vera at e-u simply means to be about, be busy in, Fms. iv. 237; standa at máli, to stand by one in a case, Grág. ii. 165, Nj. 214; vera at fóstri, to be fostered, Fms. i. 2; sitja at hégóma, to listen to nonsense, Ld. 322; vera at smíð, to be at one’s work, Þórð. 62: now absol., vera at, to go on with, be busy at.

3. the law term vinna eið at e-u has a double meaning:

α. vinna eið at bók, at baugi, to make an oath upon the book by laying the band upon it, Landn. 258, Grág., Nj.; cp. Vkv. 31, Gkv. 3. 3, Hkv. 2. 29, etc.: ‘við’ is now used in this sense.

β. to confirm a fact (or the like) by an oath, to swear to, Grág. i. 9, 327.

γ. the law phrase, nefna vátta at e-u, of summoning witnesses to a deed, fact, or the like; nefna vátta at benjum, to produce evidence, witnesses as to the wounds, Nj., Grág.; at görð, Eg. 738; at svörum, Grág. i. 19: this summoning of witnesses served in old lawsuits the same purpose as modern pleadings and depositions; every step in a suit to be lawful must be followed by such a summoning or declaration.

4. used ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at; kvalararnir er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him; þar varstu at, you were there present, Skálda 162; at várum þar, Gísl. (in a verse): as a law term ‘vera at’ means to be guilty, Glúm. 388; vartattu at þar, Eg. (in a verse); hence the ambiguity of Glum’s oath, vask at þar, I was there present: var þar at kona nokkur ( was there busy) at binda sár manna, Fms. v. 91; hann var at ok smíðaði skot, Rd. 313; voru Varbelgir at ( about) at taka af, þau lög …, Fms. ix. 512; ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving, xi. 49; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers, x. 186 (now very freq.); koma at, come in, to arrive unexpectedly; Gunnarr kom at í því, G. came in at that moment; hvaðan komtú nú at, whence did you come? Nj. 68, Fms. iii. 200.

5. denoting the kingdom or residence of a king or princely person; konungr at Danmörk ok Noregi, king of…, Fms. i. 119, xi. 281; konungr, jarl, at öllum Noregi, king, earl, over all N., íb. 3, 13, Landn. 25; konungr at Dyflinni, king of Dublin, 25; but í or yfir England!, Eg. 263: cp. the phrase, sitja at landi, to reside, of a king when at home, Hkr. i. 34; at Joini, Fms. xi. 74: used of a bishop; biskup at Hólum, bishop of Hólar, Íb. 18, 19; but biskup í Skálaholti, 19: at Rómi, at Rome, Fbr. 198.

6. in denoting a man’s abode (vide p. 5, col. 1, l. 27), the prep. ‘at’ is used where the local name implies the notion of by the side of, and is therefore esp. applied to words denoting a river, brook, rock, mountain, grove, or the like, and in some other instances, by, at, e. g. at Hofi (a temple), Landn. 198; at Borg ( a castle), 57; at Helgafelli (a mountain), Eb. constantly so; at Mosfelli, Landn. 190; at Hálsi (a hill), Fms. xi. 22; at Bjargi, Grett. 90; Hálsum, Landn. 143; at Á ( river), 296, 268; at Bægisá, 212; Giljá, 332; Myrká, 211; Vatnsá, id.; þverá, Glúm. 323; at Fossi (a ‘force’ or waterfall), Landn. 73; at Lækjamoti (waters-meeting), 332; at Hlíðarenda ( end of the lithe or hill), at Bergþórshváli, Nj.; at Lundi (a grove), at Melum (sandhill), Landn. 70: the prep. ‘á’ is now used in most of these cases, e. g. á Á, á Hofi, Helgafelli, Felli, Hálsi, etc.

β. particularly, and without any regard to etymology, used of the abode of kings or princes, to reside at; at Uppsölum, at Haugi, Alreksstöðum, at Hlöðum, Landn., Fms.

γ. konungr lét kalla at stofudyrum, the king made a call at the hall door, Eg. 88; þeir kölluðu at herberginu, they called at the inn, Fms. ix. 475.

7. used ellipt. with a gen., esp. if connected with such words as gista, to be a guest, lodge, dine, sup (of festivals or the like) at one’s home; at Marðar, Nj. 4; at hans, 74; þingfesti at þess bóanda, Grág. i. 152; at sín, at one’s own home, Eg. 371, K. Þ. K. 62; hafa náttstað at Freyju, at the abode of goddess Freyja, Eg. 603; at Ránar, at Ran’s, i. e. at Ran’s house, of drowned men who belong to the queen of the sea, Ran, Eb. 274; at hins heilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church, Fms. vi. 63: cp. ad Veneris, εις Κίμωνος.

B. TEMP.

I. at, denoting a point or period of time; at upphafi, at first, in the beginning, Ld. 104; at lyktum, at síðustu, at lokum, at last; at lesti, at last, Lex. Poët., more freq. á lesti; at skilnaði, at parting, at last, Band. 3; at fornu, in times of yore, formerly, Eg. 267, D. I. i. 635; at sinni, as yet, at present; at nýju, anew, of present time; at eilífu, for ever and ever; at skömmu, soon, shortly, Ísl. ii. 272, v. l.

II. of the very moment when anything happens, the beginning of a term; denoting the seasons of the year, months, weeks, the hours of the day; at Jólum, at Yule, Nj. 46; at Pálmadegi, on Palm Sunday, 273; at Páskum, at Easter; at Ólafsvöku, on St. Olave’s eve, 29th of July, Fms.; at vetri, at the beginning of the winter, on the day when winter sets in, Grág. 1. 151; at sumarmálum, at vetrnáttum; at Tvímánaði, when the Double month (August) begins, Ld. 256, Grág. i. 152; at kveldi, at eventide, Eg. 3; at því meli, at that time; at eindaga, at the term, 395; at eykð, at 4 o’clock p. m., 198; at öndverðri æfi Abra hams, Ver. II; at sinni, now at once, Fms. vi. 71; at öðruhverju, every now and then.

β. where the point of time is marked by some event; at þingi, at the meeting of parliament (18th to the 24th of June), Ld. 182; at féránsdómi, at the court of execution, Grág. i. 132, 133; at þinglausnum, at the close of the parliament (beginning of July), 140; at festarmálum, eðr at eiginorði, at betrothal or nuptials, 174; at skilnaði, when they parted, Nj. 106 (above); at öllum minnum, at the general drinking of the toasts, Eg. 253; at fjöru, at the ebb; at flæðum, at flood tide, Fms. viii. 306, Orkn. 428; at hrörum, at an inquest, Grág. i. 50 (cp. ii. 141, 389); at sökum, at prosecutions, 30; at sinni, now, as yet, v. that word.

III. ellipt., or adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr,’ of the future time:

1. ellipt., komanda or the like being understood, with reference to the seasons of the year; at sumri, at vetri, at hausti, at vári, next summer, winter…, Ísl. ii. 242; at miðju sumri, at ári, at Midsummer, next year, Fas. i. 516; at miðjum vetri, Fms. iv. 237,

2. adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr;’ at ári komanda, Bárð. 177; at vári er kemr, Dipl. iii. 6.

IV. used with an absolute dat. and with a pres. part.:

1. with pres. part.; at morni komanda, on the coming morrow, Fms. i. 263; at sér lifanda, in vivo, in his life time, Grág. ii. 202; at þeim sofundum, illis dormientibus, Hkr. i. 234; at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all, Fms. x. 329; at úvitanda konungi, illo nesciente, without his knowledge, 227; at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the chief’s bearing, 235.

2. of past time with a past part. (Lat. abl. absol.); at hræjum fundnum, on the bodies being found, Grág. ii. 87; at háðum dómum ok föstu þingi, during the session, the courts being set, i. 484; at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks past, Band. 13; at svá búnu, so goru, svá komnu, svá mæltu (Lat. quibus rebus gestis, dictis, quo facto, dicto, etc.), v. those words; at úreyndu, without trial, without put ting one to the test, Ld. 76; at honum önduðum, illo mortuo.

3. ellipt. without ‘at;’ en þessum hlutum fram komnum, when all this has been done, Eb. 132.

V. in some phrases with a slight temp, notion; at görðum gildum, the fences being strong, Gþl. 387; at vörmu spori, at once, whilst the trail is warm; at úvörum, unawares, suddenly, Nj. 95, Ld. 132; at þessu, at this cost, on that condition, Eb. 38, Nj. 55; at illum leiki, to have a narrow escape, now við illan leik, Fms. ix. 473; at því, that granted, Grág. ii. 33: at því, at pessu, thereafter, thereupon, Nj. 76.

2. denoting succession, without interruption, one after another; hverr at öðrum, annarr maðr at öðrum, aðrir at öðrum; eina konu at annarri, Eg. 91, Fms. ii. 236, vi. 25, Bs. i. 22, 625. 80, H. E. i. 522.

C. METAPH. and in various cases:

I. denoting a transformation or change into, to, with the notion of destruction; brenna at ösku, at köldum kolum, to burn to ashes, to be quite destroyed, Fms. i. 105, Edda 3, Sturl. ii. 51: with the notion of transformation or transfiguration, in such phrases as, verða at e-u, göra e-t at e-u, to turn it into:

α. by a spell; verða at ormi, to become a snake, Fms. xi. 158; at flugdrekum, Gullþ. 7; urðu þau bönd at járni, Edda 40.

β. by a natural process it can often be translated by an acc. or by as; göra e-n at urðarmanni, to make him an outlaw, Eg. 728; græða e-n at orkumlamanni, to heal him so as to maim him for life, of bad treatment by a leech, Eb. 244: in the law terms, sár görist at ben, a wound turning into a ben, proving to be mortal, Grág., Nj.; verða at ljúgvætti, to prove to be a false evidence, Grág. i. 44; verða at sætt, to turn into reconciliation, Fms. i. 13; göra e-t at reiði málum, to take offence at, Fs. 20; at nýjum tíðindum, to tell as news, Nj. 14; verða fátt at orðum, to be sparing of words, 18; kveðr (svá) at orði, to speak, utter, 10; verða at þrifnaði, to geton well, Fms. vii. 196: at liði, at skaða, to be a help or hurt to one; at bana, to cause one’s death, Nj. 223, Eg. 21, Grág. ii. 29: at undrum, at hlátri, to become a wonder, a laughing-stock, 623. 35, Eg. 553.

II. denoting capacity, where it may be translated merely by as or for; gefa at Jólagjöf, to give for a Christmas-box, Eg. 516; at gjöf, for a present; at erfð, at láni, launum, as an inheritance, a loan; at kaupum ok sökum, for buying and selling, Ísl. ii. 223, Grág. i. 423; at solum, ii. 204; at herfangi, as spoil or plunder; at sakbótum, at niðgjöldum, as a compensation, weregeld, i. 339, ii. 171, Hkr. ii. 168; taka at gíslingu, to take as an hostage, Edda 15; eiga e-n at vin, at óvin, to have one as friend or foe, illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin, ‘tis ill to have a thrall for one’s bosom friend (a proverb), Nj. 77; fæða, eiga, at sonum (syni), to beget a son, Edda 8, Bs. i. 60 (but eiga at dóttur cannot be said); hafa möttul at yfirhöfn, Fms. vii. 201; verða nökkut at manni (mönnum), to turn out to be a worthy man; verða ekki at manni, to turn out a worthless person, xi. 79, 268.

2. in such phrases as, verða at orðum, to come towards, Nj. 26; var þat at erindum, Eg. 148; hafa at veizlum, to draw veizlur ( dues) from, Fms. iv. 275, Eg. 647; gora e-t at álitum, to take it into consideration, Nj. 3.

III. denoting belonging to, fitting, of parts of the whole or the like; vóru at honum (viz. the sword) hjölt gullbúin, the sword was ornamented with a hilt of gold, Ld. 330; umgörð at ( belonging to) sverði, Fs. 97 (Hs.) in a verse; en ef mór er eigi at landinu, if there be no turf moor belonging to the land, Grág. ii. 338; svá at eigi brotnaði nokkuð at Orminum, so that no harm happened to the ship Worm, Fms. x. 356; hvatki er meiðir at skipinu eðr at reiðinu eðr at viðum, damage done t o …, Grág. ii. 403; lesta ( to injure) hús at lásum, við eðr torfi, 110; ef land hefir batnað at húsum, if the land has been bettered as to its buildings, 210; cp. the phrase, göra at e-u, to repair: hamlaðr at höndum eðr fótum, maimed as to hands or feet, Eg. 14; heill at höndum en hrumr at fótum, sound in band, palsied in foot, Fms. vii. 12; lykill at skrá, a key belonging, fitting, to the latch; hurð at húsi; a key ‘gengr at’ ( fits) skrá; and many other phrases. 2. denoting the part by which a thing is held or to which it belongs, by; fá, taka at…, to grasp by …; þú tókt við sverði hans at hjöltunum, you took it by the bill, Fms. i. 15; draga út björninn at hlustum, to pull out the bear by the ears, Fas. ii. 237; at fótum, by the feet, Fms. viii. 363; mæla ( to measure) at hrygg ok at jaðri, by the edge or middle of the stuff, Grág. i. 498; kasta e-m at höfði, head foremost, Nj. 84; kjósa e-n at fótum, by the feet alone, Edda 46; hefja frændsemi at bræðrum, eða at systkynum, to reckon kinship by the brother’s or the sister’s side, Grág. i. 28; kjósa at afli, at álitum, by strength, sight, Gs. 8, belongs rather to the following.

IV. in respect of, as regards, in regard to, as to; auðigr at fé, wealthy of goods, Nj. 16, 30, 51; beztir hestar at reið, the best racehorses, 186; spekingr at viti, a man of great intellect, Ld. 124; vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face, Nj. 30, Bs. i. 61; kvenna vænst at ásjónu ok vits munum, of surpassing beauty and intellect, Ld. 122; fullkominn at hyggju, 18; um fram aðra menn at vinsældum ok harðfengi, of surpassing popularity and hardihood, Eb. 30.

2. a law term, of challenging jurors, judges, or the like, on account of, by reason of; ryðja ( to challenge) at mægðum, guðsifjum, frændsemi, hrörum …; at leiðarlengd, on account of distance, Grág. i. 30, 50, Nj. (freq.)

3. in arithm. denoting proportion; at helmingi, þriðjungi, fjórðungi, tíunda hluta, cp. Lat. ex asse, quadrante, for the half, third… part; máttr skal at magni (a proverb), might and main go together, Hkr. ii. 236; þú munt vera at því mikill fræðimaðr á kvæði, in the same proportion, as great, Fms. vi. 391, iii. 41; at e-s hluta, at… leiti, for one’s part, in turn, as far as one is con cerned, Grág. i. 322, Eg. 309, Fms. iii. 26 (freq.): at öðrum kosti, in the other case, otherwise (freq.) More gener., at öllu, öngu, in all (no) respects; at sumu, einhverju, nokkru, partly; at flestu, mestu, chiefly.

4. as a paraphrase of a genitive; faðir, móðir at barni (= barns); aðili at sök (= sakar a.); morðingi at barni (= barns), faðerni at barni (barns); illvirki at fé manna (cp. Lat. felo de se), niðrfall at sökum (saka), land gangr at fiskum (fiska), Fms. iv. 274, Grág. i. 277, 416, N. G. L. i. 340, K. Þ. K. 112, Nj. 21.

5. the phrase ‘at sér,’ of himself or in himself, either ellipt. or by adding the participle görr, and with the adverbs vel, ilia, or the like; denoting breeding, bearing, endowments, character …; væn kona, kurteis ok vel at sér, an accomplished, well-bred, gifted lady, Nj. I; vitr maðr ok vel at sér, a wise man and thoroughly good in feeling and bearing, 5; þú ert maðr vaskr ok vel at þér, 49; gerr at sér, accomplished, 51; bezt at sér görr, the finest, best bred man, 39, Ld. 124; en þó er hann svá vel at sér, so generous, Nj. 77; þeir höfðingjar er svá vóru vel at sér, so noble-minded, 198, Fms. i. 160: the phrase ‘at sér’ is now only used of knowledge, thus maðr vel að sér means clever, a man of great knowledge; illa að sér, a blockhead.

6. denoting relations to colour, size, value, age, and the like; hvitr, svartr, grár, rauðr … at lit, white, swarthy, gray, red … of colour, Bjarn. 55, 28, Ísl. ii. 213, etc.; mikill, lítill, at stærð, vexti, tall, small of size, etc.; ungr, gamall, barn, at aldri, young, old, a child of age; tvítugr, þrítugr … at aldri, twenty, thirty … years of age (freq.): of animals; kyr at fyrsta, öðrum … kálfi, a cow having calved once, twice…, Jb. 346: value, amount, currency of money, kaupa e-t at mörk, at a mark, N. G. L. 1. 352; ok er eyririnn at mörk, amounts to a mark, of the value of money, Grág. i. 392; verðr þá at hálfri murk vaðmála eyrir, amounts to a half a mark, 500.

β. metaph. of value, connected with verbs denoting to esteem, hold; meta, hafa, halda at miklu, litlu, vettugi, engu, or the like, to hold in high or low esteem, to care or not to care for (freq.): geta e-s at góðu, illu, öngu, to mention one favourably, unfavourably, indifferently … (freq.), prop. in connection with. In many cases it may be translated by in; ekki er mark at draumum, there is no meaning in dreams, no heed is to be paid to dreams, Sturl. ii. 217; bragð er at þá barnið finnr, it goes too far, when even a child takes offence (a proverb): hvat er at því, what does it mean? Nj. 11; hvert þat skip er vöxtr er at, any ship of mark, i. e. however small, Fms. xi. 20.

V. denoting the source of a thing:

1. source of infor mation, to learn, perceive, get information from; Ari nam ok marga fræði at Þuríði, learnt as her pupil, at her hands, as St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, (just as the Scotch say to speer or ask at a person); Ari nam at Þorgeiri afraðskoll, Hkr. (pref.); nema kunnáttu at e-m, used of a pupil, Fms. i. 8; nema fræði at e-m, xi. 396.

2. of receiving, acquiring, buying, from; þiggja e-t at e-m, to receive a thing at his hands, Nj. 51; líf, to be pardoned, Fms. x. 173; kaupa land at e-m, to buy it from, Landn. 72, Íb. II, (now af is more freq. in this sense); geta e-t at e-m, to obtain, procure at one’s hands, impetrare; þeirra manna er þeir megu þat geta at, who are willing to do that, Grág. i. I; heimta e-t at e-m (now af), to call in, demand (a debt, money), 279; fala e-t at e-m (now af), to chaffer for or cheapen anything, Nj. 73; sækja e-t at e-m, to ask, seek for; sækja heilræði ok traust at e-m, 98; leiga e-t at e-m (now af), to borrow, Grág. ii. 334; eiga e-t (fé, skuld) at e-m, to be owed money by any one, i. 399: metaph. to deserve of one, Nj. 113; eiga mikit at e-m, to have much to do with, 138; hafa veg, virðing, styrk, at, to derive honour, power from, Fms. vi. 71, Eg. 44, Bárð. 174; gagn, to be of use, Ld. 216; mein, tálma, mischief, disadvantage, 158, 216, cp. Eg. 546; ótta, awe, Nj. 68.

VI. denoting conformity, according to, Lat. secundum, ex, after; at fornum sið, Fms. i. 112; at sögn Ara prests, as Ari relates, on his authority, 55; at ráði allra vitrustu manna, at the advice of, Ísl. ii. 259, Ld. 62; at lögum, at landslögum, by the law of the land, Grág., Nj.; at líkindum, in all likelihood, Ld. 272; at sköpum, in due course (poet.); at hinum sama hætti, in the very same manner, Grág. i. 90; at vánum, as was to be expected, Nj. 255; at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave, Eg. 35; úlofi, Grág. ii. 215; at ósk, vilja e-s, as one likes…; at mun, id. (poet.); at sólu, happily (following the course of the sun), Bs. i. 70, 137; at því sem …, as to infer from …, Nj. 124: ‘fara, láta, ganga at’ denotes to yield, agree to, to comply with, give in, Ld. 168, Eg. 18, Fms. x. 368.

VII. in phrases nearly or quite adverbial; gróa, vera græddr, at heilu, to be quite healed, Bárð. 167, Eb. 148; bíta at snöggu, to bite it bare, Fms. xi. 6; at þurru, till it becomes dry, Eb. 276; at endilöngu, all along, Fas. ii; vinnast at litlu, to avail little, 655 x. 14; at fullu, fully, Nj. 257, Hkr. i. 171; at vísu, of a surety, surely, Ld. 40; at frjálsu, freely, 308; at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same, Hom. 80, Nj. 267; at röngu, wrongly, 686 B. 2; at hófi, temperately, Lex. Poët.; at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent; at hringum, utterly, all round, (rare), Fms. x. 389; at einu, yet, Orkn. 358; svá at einu, því at einu, allt at einu, yet, however, nevertheless.

VIII. connected with comparatives of adverbs and adjectives, and strengthening the sense, as in Engl. ‘the,’ so much the more, all the more; ‘at’ heldr tveimr, at ek munda gjarna veita yðr öllum, where it may be translated by so much the more to two, as I would willingly grant it to all of you; hon grét at meir, she grat (wept) the more, Eg. 483; þykir oss at líkara, all the more likely, Fms. viii. 6; þess at harðari, all the harder, Sturl. iii. 202 C; svá at hinn sé bana at nær, Grág. ii. 117; at auðnara, at hólpnara, the more happy, Al. 19, Grett. 116 B; þess at meiri, Fms. v. 64; auvirðismaðr at meiri, Sturl. ii. 139; maðr at vaskari, id.; at feigri, any the more fey, Km. 22; maðr at verri, all the worse, Nj. 168; ok er ‘at’ firr…, at ek vil miklu heldr, cp. Lat. tantum abest… ut, Eg. 60.

β. following after a negation; eigi at síðr, no less, Nj. 160, Ld. 146; eigi… at meiri maðr, any better, Eg. 425, 489; erat héra at borgnara, any the better off for that, Fms. vii. 116; eigi at minni, no less for that, Edda (pref.) 146; eigi at minna, Ld. 216, Fms. ix. 50; ekki at verri drengr, not a bit worse for that, Ld. 42; er mér ekki son minn at bættari, þótt…, 216; at eigi vissi at nær, any more, Fas. iii. 74.

IX. following many words:

1. verbs, esp. those denoting, a. to ask, enquire, attend, seek, e. g. spyrja at, to speer (ask) for; leita at, to seek for; gæta, geyma at, to pay attention to; huga, hyggja at; hence atspurn, to enquire, aðgæzla, athugi, attention, etc.

β. verbs denoting laughter, play, joy, game, cp. the Engl. to play at …, to laugh at …; hlæja, brosa at e-u, to laugh, smile at it; leika (sér) at e-u, to play at; þykja gaman at, to enjoy; hæða, göra gys at …, to make sport at …

γ. verbs denoting assistance, help; standa, veita, vinna, hjálpa at; hence atstoð, atvinna, atverk:—mode, proceeding; fara at, to proceed, hence atför and atferli:—compliance; láta, fara at e-u, v. above:— fault; e-t er at e-u, there is some fault in it, Fms. x. 418; skorta at e-u, to fall short of, xi. 98:—care, attendance; hjúkra at, hlýja at, v. these words:—gathering, collecting; draga, reiða, flytja, fá at, congerere:—engagement, arrival, etc.; sækja at, to attack; ganga at, vera at, to be about; koma at, ellipt. to arrive: göra at, to repair: lesta at, to impair (v. above); finna at, to criticise (mod.); telja at, id.: bera at, to happen; kveða at e-m, to address one, 625. 15, (kveða at (ellipt.) now means to pronounce, and of a child to utter (read) whole syllables); falla at, of the flood-tide (ellipt.): metaph. of pains or straits surrounding one; þreyngja, herða at, to press hard: of frost and cold, with regard to the seasons; frjósa at, kólna at, to get really cold (SI. 44), as it were from the cold stiffening all things: also of the seasons themselves; hausta, vetra að, when the season really sets in; esp. the cold seasons, ‘sumra at’ cannot be used, yet we may say ‘vára að’ when the spring sets in, and the air gets mild.

δ. in numberless other cases which may partly be seen below.

2. connected ellipt. with adverbs denoting motion from a place; norðan, austan, sunnan, vestan at, those from the north, east…; utan at, innan at, from the outside or inside.

3. with adjectives (but rarely), e. g. kærr, elskr, virkr (affectionate), vandr (zealous), at e-m; v. these words.

WITH ACC.

TEMP.: Lat. post, after, upon, esp. freq. in poetry, but rare in prose writers, who use eptir; nema reisi niðr at nið (= maðr eptir mann), in succession, of erecting a monument, Hm. 71; in prose, at þat. posthac, deinde, Fms. x. 323, cp. Rm., where it occurs several times, 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 24, 28, 30, 35; sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, has to take the inheritance after his father, Grág. i. 170 new Ed.; eiga féránsdóm at e-n, Grág. i. 89; at Gamla fallinn, after the death of G., Fms. x. 382; in Edda (Gl.) 113 ought to be restored, grét ok at Oð, gulli Freyja, she grat (wept) tears of gold for her lost husband Od. It is doubtful if it is ever used in a purely loc. sense; at land, Grág. (Sb.)ii. 211, is probably corrupt; at hönd = á hönd, Grág. (Sb.) i. 135; at mót = at móti, v. this word.

☞ In compounds (v. below) at- or að- answers in turn to Lat. ad- or in- or con-; atdráttr e. g. denotes collecting; atkoma is adventus: it may also answer to Lat. ob-, in atburðr = accidence, but might also be compared with Lat. occurrere.

and að, the mark of the infinitive [cp. Goth. du; A. S. and Engl. to; Germ. zu]. Except in the case of a few verbs ‘at’ is always placed immediately before the infinitive, so as to be almost an inseparable part of the verb.

I. it is used either,

1. as, a simple mark of the infinitive, only denoting an action and independent of the subject, e. g. at ganga, at hlaupa, at vita, to go, to run, to know; or,

2. in an objective sense when following such verbs as bjóða segja…, to invite, command …; hann bauð þeim at ganga, at sitja, be bade, ordered them to go, sit, or the like; or as gefa and fá; gefa e-m at drekka, at eta, to give one to drink or to eat, etc. etc.

β. with the additional notion of intention, esp. when following verba cogitandi; hann ætlaði, hafði í hyggju at fara, he had it in his mind to go (where ‘to go’ is the real object to ætlaði and hafði í hyggju).

3. answering to the Gr. ινα, denoting intention, design, in order to; hann gékk í borg at kaupa silfr, in order to buy, Nj. 280; hann sendi riddara sína með þeim at varðveita þær, 623. 45: in order to make the phrase more plain, ‘svá’ and ‘til’ are frequently added, esp. in mod. writers, ‘svá at’ and contr. ‘svát’ (the last however is rare), ‘til at’ and ‘til þess at,’ etc.

II. in the earlier times the infin., as in Greek and Lat., had no such mark; and some verbs remain that cannot be followed by ‘at;’ these verbs are almost the same in Icel. as in Engl.:

α. the auxiliary verbs vil, mun ( μέλλω), skal; as in Engl. to is never used after the auxiliaries shall, will, must; ek vil ganga, I will go; ek mun fara, (as in North. E.) I mun go; ek skal göra þat, I shall do that, etc.

β. the verbs kunna, mega, as in Engl. I can or may do, I dare say; svá hygginn at hann kunni fyrir sökum ráða, Grág. ii. 75; í öllu er prýða má góðan höfðingja, Nj. 90; vera má, it may be; vera kann þat, id.: kunnu, however, takes ‘at’ whenever it means to know, and esp. in common language in phrases such as, það kann að vera, but vera kann þat, v. above.

γ. lata, biðja, as in Engl. to let, to bid; hann lét (bað) þá fara, he let (bade) them go.

δ. þykkja, þykjast, to seem; hann þykir vera, he is thought to be: reflex., hann þykist vera, sibi videtur: impers., mér þykir vera, mibi videtur, in all cases without ‘at.’ So also freq. the verbs hugsa, hyggja, ætla, halda, to think, when denoting merely the act of thinking; but if there be any notion of intention or purpose, they assume the ‘at;’ thus hann ætlaði, hugði, þá vera góða menn, he thought them to be, acc. c. inf.; but ætlaði at fara, meant to go, etc.

ε. the verbs denoting to see, bear; sjá, líta, horfa á … ( videre); heyra, audire, as in Engl. I saw them come, I heard him tell, ek sá þá koma, ek heyrði hann tala.

ζ. sometimes after the verbs eiga and ganga; hann gékk steikja, be went to roast, Vkv. 9; eiga, esp. when a mere periphrasis instead of skal, móður sína á maðr fyrst fram færa (better at færa), Grág. i. 232; á þann kvið einskis meta, 59; but at meta, id. l. 24; ráða, nema, göra …, freq. in poetry, when they are used as simple auxiliary verbs, e. g. nam hann sér Högna hvetja at rúnum, Skv. 3. 43.

η. hljóta and verða, when used in the sense of must (as in Engl. he must go), and when placed after the infin.of another verb; hér muntu vera hljóta, Nj. 129; but hljóta at vera: fara hlýtr þú, Fms. 1. 159; but þú hlýtr at fara: verða vita, ii. 146; but verða at vita: hann man verða sækja, þó verðr (= skal) maðr eptir mann lifa, Fms. viii. 19, Fas. ii. 552, are exceptional cases.

θ. in poetry, verbs with the verbal neg. suffix ‘-at,’ freq. for the case of euphony, take no mark of the infinitive, where it would be indispensable with the simple verb, vide Lex. Poët. Exceptional cases; hvárt sem hann vill ‘at’ verja þá sök, eða, whatever he chooses, either, Grág. i. 64; fyrr viljum vér enga kórónu at bera, en nokkut ófrelsi á oss at taka, we would rather bear no crown than …, Fms. x. 12; the context is peculiar, and the ‘at’ purposely added. It may be left out ellipt.; e. g. þá er guð gefr oss finnast (= at finnast), Dipl. ii. 14; gef honum drekka (= at drekka), Pr. 470; but mostly in unclassical writers, in deeds, or the like, written nastily and in an abrupt style.

and að, conj. [Goth. þatei = οτι; A. S. þät; Engl. that; Germ, dass; the Ormul. and Scot. at, see the quotations sub voce in Jamieson; in all South-Teutonic idioms with an initial dental: the Scandinavian idioms form an exception, having all dropped this consonant; Swed. åt, Dan. at]. In Icel. the Bible translation (of the 16th century) was chiefly based upon that of Luther; the hymns and the great bulk of theol. translations of that time were also derived from Germany; therefore the germanised form það frequently appears in the Bible, and was often employed by theol. authors in sermons since the time of the Reformation. Jón Vidalin, the greatest modern Icel. preacher, who died in 1720, in spite of his thoroughly classical style, abounds in the use of this form; but it never took root in the language, and has never passed into the spoken dialect. After a relative or demonstr. pronoun, it freq. in mod. writers assumes the form eð, hver eð, hverir eð, hvað eð, þar eð. Before the prep. þú (tu), þ changes into t, and is spelt in a single word attú, which is freq. in some MS.;—now, however, pronounced aððú, aððeir, aððið …, = að þú…, with the soft Engl. th sound. It gener. answers to Lat. ut, or to the relat. pron. qui.

I. that, relative to svá, to denote proportion, degree, so…, that, Lat. tam, tantus, tot…, ut; svá mikill lagamaðr, at…, so great a lawyer, that…, Nj. 1; hárið svá mikit, at þat…, 2; svá kom um síðir því máli, at Sigvaldi, it came so far, that…, Fms. xi. 95, Edda 33. Rarely and unclass., ellipt. without svá; Bæringr var til seinn eptir honum, at hann … (= svá at), Bær. 15; hlífði honum, at hann sakaði ekki, Fas. iii. 441.

II. it is used,

1. with indic, in a narrative sense, answering partly to Gr. οτι, Lat. quod, ut, in such phrases as, it came to pass, happened that …; þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, Nj. 2; þat var á palmdrottinsdag, at Ólafr konungr gékk út um stræti, Fms. ii. 244.

2. with subj. answering to Lat. acc. with infin., to mark the relation of an object to the chief verb, e. g. vilda ek at þú réðist, I wished that you would, Nj. 57.

β. or in an oblique sentence, answering to ita ut…; ef svá kann verða at þeir láti…, if it may be so that they might…, Fms. xi. 94.

γ. with a subj. denoting design, answering to ϊνα or Lat. ut with subj., in order that; at öll veraldar bygðin viti, ut sciat totus orbis, Stj.; þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, at þeir dæi eigi af sulti, ut ne fame perirent, Nj. 265; fyrsti hlutr bókarinnar er Kristindómsbálkr, at menn skili, in order that men may understand, Gþl. p. viii.

III. used in connection with conjunctions,

1. esp. þó, því, svá; þó at freq. contr. þótt; svát is rare and obsolete.

α. þóat, þótt (North. E. ‘thof’), followed by a subjunctive, though, although, Lat. etsi, quamquam (very freq.); þóat nokkurum mönnum sýnist þetta með freku sett… þá viljum vér, Fms. vi. 21: phrases as, gef þú mér þó at úverðugri, etsi indignae (dat.), Stj. MS. col. 315, are unclass., and influenced by the Latin: sometimes ellipt. without ‘þó,’ eigi mundi hón þá meir hvata göngu sinni, at (= þóat) hon hraeddist bana sinn, Edda 7, Nj. 64: ‘þó’ and ‘at’ separated, svarar hann þó rétt, at hann svari svá, Grág. i. 23; þó er rétt at nýta, at hann sé fyrr skorinn, answering to Engl. yet—though, Lat. attamen —etsi, K. Þ. K.

β. því at, because, Lat. nam, quia, with indic.; því at allir vóru gerfiligir synir hans, Ld. 68; því at af íþróttum verðr maðr fróðr, Sks. 16: separated, því þegi ek, at ek undrumst, Fms. iii. 201; því er þessa getið, at þat þótti, it i s mentioned because …, Ld. 68.

γ. svá at, so that, Lat. ut, ita ut; grátrinn kom upp, svá at eingi mátti öðrum segja, Edda 37: separated, so … that, svá úsvúst at …, so bad weather, that, Bs. i. 339, etc.

2. it is freq. used superfluously, esp. after relatives; hver at = hverr, quis; því at = því, igitur; hverr at þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða, Fms. v. 159; hvern stvrk at hann mundi fá, 44; ek undrumst hvé mikil ógnarraust at liggr í þér, iii. 201; því at ek mátti eigi þar vera elligar, því at þar var kristni vel haldin, Fas. i. 340.

IV. as a relat. conj.:

1. temp, when, Lat. quum; jafnan er ( est) mér þá verra er ( quum) ek fer á braut þaðan, en þá at ( quum) ek kem, Grett. 150 A; þar til at vér vitum, till we know, Fms. v. 52; þá at ek lýsta (= þá er), when, Nj. 233.

2. since, because; ek færi yðr (hann), at þér eruð í einum hrepp allir, because of your being all of the same Rape, Grág. i. 260; eigi er kynlegt at ( though) Skarphéðinn sé hraustr, at þat er mælt at…, because (since) it is a saying that…, Nj. 64.

V. in mod. writers it is also freq. superfluously joined to the conjunctions, ef að = ef, si, (Lv. 45 is from a paper MS.), meðan að = meðan, dum; nema að, nisi; fyrst að = fyrst, quoniam; eptir að, síðan að, postquam; hvárt að = hvárt, Lat. an. In the law we find passages such as, þá er um er dæmt eina sök, at þá eigu þeir aptr at ganga í dóminn, Grág. i. 79; ef þing ber á hina helgu viku, at þat á eigi fyrir þeim málum at standa, 106; þat er ok, at þeir skulu reifa mál manna, 64; at þeir skulu með váttorð þá sök sækja, 65: in all these cases ‘at’ is either superfluous or, which is more likely, of an ellipt. nature, ‘the law decrees’ or ‘it is decreed’ being understood. The passages Sks. 551, 552, 568, 718 B, at lokit (= at ek hefi lokit), at hugleitt (= at ek hefi h.), at sent (= at ek hefi sent) are quite exceptional.

and að, an indecl. relat. pronoun [Ulf. þatei = ος, ος αν, οστις, οσπερ, οιος, etc.; Engl. that, Ormul. at], with the initial letter dropped, as in the conj. at, (cp. also the Old Engl. at, which is both a conj. and a pronoun, e. g. Barbour vi. 24 in Jamieson: ‘I drede that his gret wassalage, | And his travail may bring till end, | That at men quhilc full litil wend.’ | ‘His mestyr speryt quhat tithings a t he saw.’—Wyntoun v. 3. 89.) In Icel. ‘er’ (the relat. pronoun) and ‘at’ are used indifferently, so that where one MS. reads ‘er,’ another reads ‘at,’ and vice versâ; this may easily be seen by looking at the MSS.; yet as a rule ‘er’ is much more freq. used. In mod. writers ‘at’ is freq. turned into ‘eð,’ esp. as a superfluous particle after the relative pron. hverr (hver eð, hvað eð, hverir eð, etc.), or the demonstr. sá (sá eð, þeir eð, hinir eð, etc.):—who, which, that, enn bezta grip at ( which) hafði til Íslands komið, Ld. 202; en engi mun sá at ( cui) minnisamara mun vera, 242; sem blótnaut at ( quae) stærst verða, Fms. iii. 214; þau tiðendi, at mér þætti verri, Nj. 64, etc. etc.

n. collision (poët.); odda at, crossing of spears, crash of spears, Höfuðl. 8.

β. a fight or bait of wild animals, esp. of horses, v. hesta-at and etja.

the negative verbal suffix, v. -a.

1) mfn. bearing, carrying ( seeﾠ dṛiti andﾠ nātha-h-)

2) mfn. (prob. fr. a lost hṛi, « to be yellow orﾠ green»)