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grăcĭlis , e (also ante-class. grăcĭlus , a, um, Lucil. ap. Non. 489, 21; plur.:
I.gracilae virgines,Ter. Eun. 2, 3, 22), adj. Sanscr. karc, to be lean; old Lat. cracentes, slender (Enn. Ann. 497 Vahl.); cf. Gr. κολοκάνος, thin, slight, slender, slim; meagre, lean (poet. and in Aug. prose; not in Cic.; but cf. gracilitas; syn.: exilis, tenuis, macer).
B. Transf., opp. to fat or rich, meagre, scanty, poor (post-Aug.): “ager,Plin. 17, 22, 35, § 187: “clivi,Col. 2, 4, 11: “vindemiae,Plin. Ep. 9, 20, 2; 8, 15, 1: “gracili Lare vivere,App. Mag. p. 287; cf. “pauperies,id. M. 9, p. 219.—
II. Trop., of style, simple, plain, unadorned (poet. and in post-Aug. prose): materiae gracili sufficit ingenium. Ov. P. 2, 5, 26; cf.: “lusimus, Octavi, gracili modulante Thalia,Verg. Cul. 1: et in carmine et in soluta oratione genera dicendi probabilia sunt tria, quae Graeci χαρακτῆρας vocant nominaque eis fecerunt ἁδρόν, ἰσχνόν, μέσον. Nos quoque, quem primum posuimus, uberem vocamus, secundum gracilem, tertium mediocrem. Uberi dignitas atque amplitudo est: “gracili venustas et subtilitas: medius in confinio est utriusque modi particeps, etc.,Gell. 7, 14, 1 sq.; cf.: “inter gracile validumque tertium aliquid constitutum est,Quint. 12, 10, 66: “praefationes tersae, graciles, dulces,Plin. Ep. 2, 3, 1.—Of the speaker: “non possumus esse tam graciles, simus fortiores,Quint. 12, 10, 36.—Hence, adv.: grăcĭlĭter , slenderly.
1. Lit., App. M. 3, p. 130.—
2. Trop.: “alia ornatius, alia gracilius esse dicenda,more simply, Quint. 9, 4, 130.
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hide References (21 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (21):
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 10.140
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 1.299
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4.176
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 6.54
    • Old Testament, Wisdom, 5.15
    • Horace, Satires, 1.5.69
    • Suetonius, Nero, 51
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 16.19
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 16.39
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 24.33
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 8.15
    • Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, 2.3.1
    • Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, 9.20.2
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 35, 11.7
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 9, 4.130
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 12, 10.66
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 12, 10.36
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 7.14.1
    • Ovid, Tristia, 4.10
    • Ovid, Ex Ponto, 2.5
    • Columella, Res Rustica, 2.4.11
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