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certo , āvi, ātum, 1, v. freq. a. cerno,
I.to decide something by a contest (cf. cerno, II. C. b.); hence, to fight, struggle, contend, combat, implying great exertion, and usually a measuring of strength (class. in prose and poetry; most freq. in a trop. signif.; syn.: decerto, contendo).
II. Out of the sphere of milit. operations, to contend, struggle, strive, emulate, vie with: certabant urbem Romam Remoramne vocarent, Enn. ap. Cic. Div. 1, 48, 107 (Ann. v. 85 Vahl.): haut doctis dictis certantes sed maledictis, Enn. ap. Gell. 20, 10, 4 (Ann. v. 274 ib.): “minis mecum, minaciis,Plaut. Truc. 5, 56: “malitiā tecum,id. Pers. 2, 2, 56: “benedictis,Ter. Phorm. prol. 20: “certare ingenio, contendere nobilitate,Lucr. 2, 11: “cum aliquo dicacitate,Cic. Brut. 46, 172: “officiis inter se,id. Fam. 7, 31, 1; cf.: “certatum inter collegas maledictis,Liv. 5, 8, 13; and: “eo modo inter se duo imperatores certabant,Sall. J. 52, 1: “cum civibus de virtute,id. C. 9, 2: “pro sua quisque potentia,id. ib. 38, 3: “contumaciā adversus contemnentes humilitatem suam nobiles certavit (Licinius),Liv. 9, 46, 4: cum usuris fructibus praediorum, to contend against interest (to strive to pay interest) with the produce of estates, Cic. Cat. 2, 8, 18: cum a Cheruscis Longobardisque pro antiquo decore aut recenti libertate; “et contra, augendae dominationi certaretur,Tac. A. 2, 46: “ob hircum,Hor. A. P. 220: “joco,id. C. 2, 12, 18: “mero,id. ib. 4, 1, 31: “animis iniquis,Verg. A. 10, 7: “parsimoniā et vigiliis et labore cum ultimis militum,Liv. 34, 18, 5: “sententiis,Tac. A. 1, 29 al.: “ut si nautae certarent, quis eorum potissimum gubernaret,Cic. Off. 1, 25, 87: “mos gentis est, equitare jaculari cursu cum aequalibus certare,Sall. J. 6, 1: “dic mecum quo pignore certes,Verg. E. 3, 31: “celeri sagittā,id. A. 5, 485: “certemus, spinas animone ego fortius an tu Evellas agro,Hor. Ep. 1, 14, 4.— Poet., with acc.: hanc rem ( = de hac re), Sedigit. ap. Gell. 15, 24; cf. in pass.: “cui (multae) certandae cum dies advenisset,Liv. 25, 3, 14.—With dat. instead of cum: “solus tibi certat Amyntas,Verg. E. 5, 8; Hor. S. 2, 5, 19; id. Epod. 11, 18; 2, 20; id. C. 2, 6, 15; Verg. E. 8, 55; id. G. 2, 138; Ov. M. 14, 794.—
2. Particularly of judicial disputations, to contend at law: “inter se,Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 16, § 39; cf. id. ib. 2, 2, 13, § “32: in centumvirali judicio,id. de Or. 1, 39, 177: “si a duumviris provocarit, provocatione certato,Liv. 1, 26, 6: “si quid se judice certes,Hor. S. 2, 1, 49: “foro si res certabitur olim,id. ib. 2, 5, 27.—
3. With inf. (mostly poet.), to strive to do something, to labor, endeavor, struggle earnestly, to exert one's self: “certantes ad summum succedere honorem,Lucr. 5, 1123; so, “inter se cernere,id. 5, 394: “dimittere se (nubes),id. 6, 509: “populum alium suorum sepelire,id. 6, 1247: “Phoebum superare canendo,Verg. E. 5, 9: “superare,Ov. M. 5, 394: “vincere,Verg. A. 5, 194: “tollere (hunc) tergeminis honoribus,Hor. C. 1, 1, 8: “inter se eruere quercum,Verg. A. 4, 443: “certat quisque evadere,Curt. 9, 4, 33: “frangere fluctus,Plin. Pan. 81 fin.; Sil. 13, 222; Stat. S. 5, 3, 191.
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hide References (55 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (55):
    • Cicero, Letters to his Friends, 7.31.1
    • Cicero, Against Verres, 2.2.39
    • Cicero, Against Catiline, 2.8.18
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 13.713
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 14.794
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 2.30
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 10.7
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 4.443
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 5.194
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 10.355
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 5.485
    • Vergil, Georgics, 2.138
    • Horace, Satires, 2.1.49
    • Horace, Satires, 2.5.19
    • Horace, Ars Poetica, 220
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.394
    • Tacitus, Annales, 11.10
    • Tacitus, Annales, 1.29
    • Tacitus, Annales, 2.46
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 2.47
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 2.50
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 4.61
    • Plautus, Persa, 2.2
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 1.39
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 2.18
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 52
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 74
    • Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, 2.11
    • Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, 5.1123
    • Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, 5.394
    • Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, 6.1247
    • Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, 6.509
    • Tacitus, Agricola, 5
    • Suetonius, Divus Vespasianus, 5
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 25, 3
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 3, 71.2
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 5, 8.13
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 9, 46
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 1, 26.6
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 21, 1
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 34, 18.5
    • Cicero, De Divinatione, 1.48
    • Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, 5.27
    • Cicero, De Officiis, 1.25
    • Cicero, De Officiis, 3.22
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 15.24
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 20.10.4
    • Sallust, Catilinae Coniuratio, 38
    • Sallust, Catilinae Coniuratio, 9
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 114
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 6
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 81
    • Statius, Silvae, 5.3
    • Curtius, Historiarum Alexandri Magni, 9.4.33
    • Cicero, Brutus, 46.172
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