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cantĭlēna , ae, f. cantillo.
I. In anteclass. and class. lang., a song, in a disparaging sense, an old song; vulg. for silly, trite prattle, gossip: “ut crebro mihi insusurret cantilenam suam,Cic. Att. 1, 19, 8: totam istam cantilenam ex hoc pendere, ut quam plurimum lucri faciant, Brut. ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 20, 2: qui non Graeci alicujus cottidianam loquacitatem sine usu, neque ex scholis cantilenam requirunt, Cic. de Or. 1, 23, 105.—Prov.: cantilenam eandem canis, = τὸ αὐτὸ ἀ̔́δεις ἀ̔̂σμα, ever the old song, Ter. Phorm. 3, 2, 10.—
II. Postclass. in a good sense, a song, in gen., Gell. 9, 4, 14; so id. 19, 9, 8: “in cantilenis et proverbiis,Vulg. Ecclus. 47, 18: “cantilenas meditari pro jubilo molliores,Amm. 22, 4, 6; of a lampoon, Vop. Aur. 7, 2; cf. Fest. p. 181, 16 Müll.
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hide References (4 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (4):
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 11.20.2
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 1.19.8
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 19.9.8
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 9.4.14
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