Chapter XV. 51-54
The passage on farming includes many figures from the business
world.
- habere rationem "keep account with" or "have to
reckon with"
- usura interest, dividend
- fenus, -oris, n. interest, profit
- quae cum "when she/it [the earth]"
- mollito ac subacto "made soft and broken up [by the
plow]" an example of hysteron proteron in this instance, the effect (made
soft) is named first and then the cause
- occatio harrowing < occo (I) < the root ac-
(cf acer) [an example of a popular etymology based on sound]
- vapore et compressu by heat and embrace an example of hendiadys
["one thing through two"] > "by the warmth of her/its embrace"
- fibra fiber, filament
- pubesco applies to boys "just beginning to have
the down of youth"
- malleoli "mallet shoots": cuttings having
the shape of a mallet
- plantae "sprouts": slender shoots that
spring up at the base of a shrub or tree or sometimes on the trunk
- sarmenta "twig cuttings": cuttings clipped
from the terminal twigs < sarpo "to prune"
- viviradix "quicksets",
"live-roots", "dividions": vertical sections of the plant, retaining
part of the stem and root of the parent
- propago "tree shoots", "layers": shoot
whose tip, either naturally or artificially becomes embedded in the earth and takes root
(e.g. the raspberry)
- clavicula tendril
- nanciscor, -i, nactus sum obtain, catch hold of
- arbustum a plantation of trees in which the vines
were trained
Chapter XVI. 55-58
- siquidem if indeed [implies no doubt > since]
- recedo digress from
- haud scio an [nulla] I am inclined to think [that none]
- cuius dictatoris iussu "by whose order [when] dictator"
- occupatum interemit "surprised and killed" [killed him having been
surprised]
- viator summoner
- victus, - s and cultus - s sustenance and worship
- officio practical benefit
- conditus well-flavored
Chapter XVII. 59-61
- communis friendly
- consaeptus ager garden
- humus, -i, f. ground, soil
- subactus carefully cultivated
- purus clear [of stones]
- dimensa et discripta laid out and arranged
- quominus that not
- perduco continue
- elogium epitaph
Chapter XVIII. 62-65
- honorabilia tokens of honor
- sessum supine of sedeo to sit down
- principatus precedence
- in omni oratione "in everything I say"
- coacesco turn to vinegar
- viaticum, -i, n. provision for a journey
Chapter XIX. 66-71
- quod interrogative adjective "what kind of"
- incerta pro certis habEre to regard as certain what is uncertain
- pario, -ere, peperi, partum beget, produce, obtain, win
- ante partorum previously acquired
Chapter XX. 72-76
- hoc illud est quod this is the significance of what
- iniussu without the command of
Ennius' epitaph:
- Nemo me lacrumis docoret neque funera fletu
- faxit. Cur? Volito vivos per ora vivum.
- vivos = vivus
- vivum = vivorum
only for a short time
meditor to go over a thing again and again
supplicium punishment, torture
Chapter XXI. 77-78
- compages a structure, fastening together, framework
Chapter XXII. 79-81
- nusquam aut nullum non-existent
Chapter XXIII. 82-86
sight, vision
quo (83) = ad quos
non quo (85) not because
efferor I am carried away, enraptured
extorqueo wrench away
Finis