I.to roll to or upon any thing.
I. Lit.: “Ossae frondosum involvere Olympum,” Verg. G, 1, 282: “montes,” Ov. M. 12, 507: “silvas, armenta secum,” to sweep away with it, Verg. A. 12, 689: “miser involvitur In caput,” id. ib. 292.—
B. Transf., to roll about, wrap up, envelop, involve: “se foliis ac frondibus,” Lucr. 5, 970: “aliquid corpori,” Plin. 11, 23, 27, § 77: “sinistras sagis,” Caes. B. C. 1, 75: “caput flammeolo,” Petr. 26: “se farinā,” Phaedr. 4, 1, 23: “involvi fumo,” Ov. M. 2, 232: “vestimentis,” Cels. 2, 17: “manum amiculo,” Just. 15, 3, 8: “totum involvit flammis nemus,” Verg. G. 2, 308: “fit quoque ut involvat venti se nubibus ipse vortex,” Lucr. 6, 442: “nec densae trepidis apium se involvere nubes cessarunt aquilis,” Sil. 8, 635.—
C. To cover, overwhelm: “Auster aqua involvens navemque virosque,” Verg. A. 6, 336: “stagnante vado patulos involvere campos,” Sil. 6, 143; 12, 622: “eos in mediis fluctibus,” Vulg. Deut. 14, 27: “non vox et mutui hortatus juvabant adversante unda ... cuncta pari violentia involvebantur,” Tac. A. 1, 70.—
II. Trop., to inwrap, wrap, infold, envelop, surround: se litteris, i. e. to devote one's self to, Cic. Fam. 9, 20, 3: “pacis nomine bellum involutum,” id. Phil. 7, 6, 19: “obscuris vera,” Verg. A. 6, 100: “se suā virtute,” Hor. C. 3, 29, 54: “se otio,” Plin. Ep. 7, 3: se laqueis insidiosae interrogationis, to involve or entangle themselves, id. ib. 1, 5: “ut si qua iniquitas involveretur,” Tac. A. 3, 63: “fraudibus involuti,” id. ib. 16, 32.— Hence, invŏlūtus , a, um, P. a., involved, intricate, obscure: “res involutas definiendo explicare,” Cic. Or. 29, 102: “philosophiam a rebus occultis et ab ipsa natura involutis avocare,” id. Ac. 1, 4, 15: “res omnium involutissima,” Sen. Q. N. 6, 5, 3. — Adv.: invŏlūtē , obscurely (post-class.): “queri,” Spart. Car. 2.
