I.left, on the left side (mostly poet.; syn.: sinister, scaevus).
I. Lit.: ut idem nunc sit laevus; “et e laevo sit mutua dexter,” Lucr. 4, 301 (325): “manus,” Cic. Ac. 2, 47, 145: “ab laeva manu,” Plaut. Aul. 4, 3, 1: habeo equidem hercle oculum. Py. At laevom dico, Plaut. Mil. 4, 7, 24: “latus,” Ov. M. 12, 415: auris id. ib. 12, 336: “pes,” id. ib. 12, 101: “umerus,” id. H. 9, 62: “Pontus,” lying to the left, id. P. 4, 9, 119: “iter,” Verg. A. 5, 170: “habena,” Hor. Ep. 1, 15, 12: “amnis,” the left bank, Tac. A. 2, 8: “laevā in parte mamillae,” Juv. 7, 159. —
B. Subst.
1. laeva , ae, f.
(α).
(Sc. manus.) The left hand: “opsecro te hanc per dexteram, perque hanc sororem laevam,” Plaut. Poen. 3, 1, 9: “Ilionea petit dextrā, laevāque Serestum,” Verg. A. 1, 611; id. ib. 2, 552; “7, 188: cognovi clipeum laevae gestamina nostrae,” Ov. M. 15, 163; id. ib. 4, 782; “8, 321: hinc factum est ut usus anulorum exemtus dexterae, in laevam relegaretur,” Macr. S. 7, 13, 11; so, “dextera laevaque,” Juv. 6, 561; 658.—
(β).
(Sc. pars.) The left side: “laevam cuncta cohors remis ventisque petivit,” Verg. A. 3, 563: “laevam pete,” go to the left, Ov. M. 3, 642.—Esp. freq. adv.: laevā, on the left side, on the left: “dextrā montibus, laevā Tiberi amne saeptus,” on the left, Liv. 4, 32: “dextrā laevāque duo maria claudunt,” id. 21, 43: so, a laevā: Diana facem jacit a laeva, Enn. ap. Cic. Ac. 2, 28, 89 (Trag. Rel. v. 55 Vahl.); Vulg. Exod. 14, 22.—So, ad laevam, in laevam, to the left, on the left: ante, et pone; “ad laevam, et ad dexteram,” Cic. Univ. 13: “si in laevam detorserit,” Plin. 28, 8, 27, § 93.—
2. In neutr.: laevum, on the left (poet.): “intonuit laevum,” Verg. A. 2, 693; 9, 631: “laevum extendere comas,” Juv. 6, 495: in laevum, adverbially, to the left: “fleximus in laevum cursus,” Ov. Tr. 1, 10, 17: “dixit in laevum conversus,” Juv. 4, 120 (Jahn, in laevam).— Plur.: laeva , ōrum, n., places lying on the left: “laeva tenent Thetis et Melite,” Verg. A. 5, 825: “Thracen et laeva Propontidos intrat,” Ov. F. 5, 257.—
II. Trop.
A. Awkward, stupid, foolish, silly: “si mens non laeva fuisset,” Verg. E. 1, 16; id. A. 2, 54: “o ego laevus, Qui purgor bilem sub verni temporis horam,” Hor. A. P. 301.—
B. Of ill omen, unfavorable, inconvenient; unfortunate, unlucky, bad, pernicious: “Sirius laevo contristat lumine caelum,” Verg. A. 10, 275: “peccatum fateor, cum te sic tempore laevo Interpellarim,” Hor. S. 2, 4, 4: “teque nec laevus vetat ire picus,” id. C. 3, 27, 15: “laevo monitu pueros producit avaros,” Juv. 14, 228: “omen,” Val. Fl. 6, 70: “ignis,” i. e. a pestilence, Stat. Th. 1, 634; Claud. Idyll. 2, 92; Sil. 1, 464 Rupert; so, “numina laeva (opp. dextra or propitia),” unfavorable gods, hostile deities, Verg. G. 4, 7 Jahn and Forbig. ad loc.: “impia Cappadocum tellus et numine laevo Visa tibi,” Mart. 6, 85, 3; Sil. 14, 494; 15, 512; Arn. adv. Gent. 3, 26.—
C. In the language of augurs, fortunate, lucky, propitious (because the Romans, by turning their faces to the south, had the eastern signs on their left hand; “v. sinister): laeva prospera existimantur, quoniam laevā parte mundi ortus est,” Plin. 2, 54, 55, § 142; cf. Liv. 1, 18: “omina,” Phaedr. 3, 18, 12: “tonitru dedit omina laevo Juppiter,” Ov. F. 4, 833; cf. Verg. A. 2, 693; 9, 631 (I. B. 2 supra).—Hence, adv.: laevē , awkwardly, wrongly (poet.), Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 52.
