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căprĭ-fīcus , i, f. caper-ficus, goatfig,
I.the wild fig-tree: “illi ubi etiam caprificus magna est,Ter. Ad. 4, 2, 38; Hor. Epod. 5, 17; Prop. 4 (5), 5, 76; Plin. 16, 25, 40, § 95: “arbor,id. 34, 13, 35, § 133; Mart. 10, 2, 9; “and in a play upon the word with caper and ficus,Mart. 4, 52, 2. The gall-insect, Cynips psenes, Linn., springing from this tree, ripens by its sting the fruit of the cultivated fig-tree, ficus (cf. Plin. 17, 27, 44, § 256, caprifico and caprificatio); hence poet., in allusion to the fact that the wild fig-tree strikes root in the cracks of stones, etc., and breaks them, Pers. 1, 25; cf. Juv. 10, 145.—
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hide References (3 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (3):
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 11.40
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 16.95
    • Persius, Saturae, 1
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