I.easily movable, pliant, flexible, supple; soft, tender, delicate, gentle, mild, pleasant (class.; syn.: tener, facilis, flexibilis, lentus).
I. Lit.: “mollis juncus,” Verg. E. 2, 72: “comam mollis ... hyacinthi,” id. G. 4, 137: “aurum,” flexible, id. A. 10, 818: “tiliae,” Ov. M. 10, 92: “crura,” Verg. G. 3, 76: “colla,” id. A. 11, 622: “bracchia,” Ov. A. A. 1, 595: “cervix,” id. F. 4, 185: “commissurae,” Cic. N. D. 2, 60: “molle litus,” of soft sand, Caes. B. G. 5, 9: “harena,” Ov. M. 2, 577: “aqua,” id. A. A. 1, 476: “fraga,” id. M. 13, 816: “castaneae,” Verg. E. 1, 82: “mollissima vina ( = mitissima, lenissima),” id. G. 1, 341; cf.: “molli mero,” Hor. C. 1, 7, 19; and: “molle Calenum,” Juv. 1, 69: “alvus,” relaxed, open bowels, Cels. 3, 12: “cibus,” mild, not sharp, id. 4, 4, 4: “ovum,” soft, id. 4, 4, 5: “prata,” Verg. G. 2, 384: “gramen,” Ov. F. 6, 328: “humus,” id. A. A. 3, 688: “lana,” id. F. 2, 742: “torus,” id. Am. 2, 4, 14: “arcus,” slack, unbent, unstrung, id. H. 4, 92: “feretrum,” made soft by a layer of leaves, Verg. A. 11, 64: “mollissima cera,” Cic. de Or. 3, 45, 177: “mollia panis,” the soft part of bread, the crumb, id. 13, 12, 26, § 82: “molles genae,” soft, delicate, Ov. H. 10, 44: “capilli,” id. P. 3, 3, 17: “manus,” id. Am. 1, 4, 24: “latus,” id. M. 14, 710: “molles Zephyri,” soft, gentle, id. A. A. 3, 728; so, “hiems,” Stat. S. 3, 5, 83: “aestas,” Verg. G. 1, 312: “caelum,” Flor. 1, 16, 3; 4, 12, 27: “Euphrates mollior undis,” gentler, calmer, Verg. A. 8, 726: “aditus,” easy, Sil. 4, 491; so, “iter,” Quint. 4, 2, 46: “via,” id. 1, 6, 22: “fastigium,” gentle, not steep, Caes. B. C. 2, 10: “clivus,” Verg. E. 9, 8: “modicis et mollibus clivis,” Curt. 8, 39, 6: “jugum montis,” Tac. G. 1: “trames,” Ov. F. 3, 13.—Prov.: molli bracchio objurgare aliquem, with a gentle arm, i. e. in a forbearing manner, Cic. Att. 2, 1, 6: “in molli carne vermes nascuntur,” it is the soft flesh that breeds the worms, Petr. 57.— Subst.: mollia , ĭum, n., a kind of fishes, mollusks, Plin. 11, 51, 112, § 267.—
II. Trop.
A. Tender, delicate, susceptible: “mollibus annis,” in tender youth, Ov. H. 1, 111: “os molle,” easily blushing, id. Tr. 4, 3, 70: “mollissima corda,” Juv. 15, 131: “mollissimae aures,” modest, Plin. Pan. 68.—
2. In a bad sense, soft, effeminate, unmanly, weak (syn. effeminatus): “philosophus tam mollis, tam languidus, tam enervatus,” Cic. de Or. 1, 52, 226: “Sabaei,” Verg. G. 1, 57: “viri molles, i. e. pathici,” Liv. 33, 28; Sen. Ep. 87: “disciplina,” effeminate, Cic. Fin. 1, 11, 37: “delicatior ... molliorque ratio,” id. ib. 5, 5, 12: “vita,” Ov. Tr. 5, 3, 9: desine mollium querellarum, Hor. C. 2, 9, 17: “mollis teneraque vox,” Quint. 11, 3, 23: “educatio,” id. 1, 2, 6: “actio,” id. 11, 3, 128: “Gallorum mens est mollis ac minime resistens ad calamitates perferendas,” Caes. B. G. 3, 19: “sententiae,” Cic. Cat. 1, 12, 30: “si taedio laboris longaeque viae, ut est mollis ad talia gens (Gallorum), dilaberentur,” Liv. 22, 2, 4: “Romanos molliores facere ad paciscendum,” id. 42, 62, 6; cf.: “sunt qui in rebus contrariis parum sibi constent, voluptatem severissime contemnant, in dolore sint molliores, etc.,” Cic. Off. 1, 21, 71: “molles in aure fenestrae,” Juv. 1, 104.—
B. Soft, pleasant, mild, easy: “orationem mollem teneramque reddidit,” soft, pleasant, Cic. Brut. 9, 38: “mollis et jucunda senectus,” id. Sen. 1, 2: “ita eum placidum mollemque reddidi, ut, etc.,” calm and gentle, id. Caecil. 10, 28: “verba,” Hor. Epod. 5, 83: “mollia jussa,” mild, easy, Verg. G. 3, 41: “vincuntur molli pectora dura prece,” soft, tender, touching, Tib. 3, 4, 76: “sic accensum sed molliora referre jussum dimittit,” to return a gentler answer, Tac. H. 4, 32 fin.: “saepius molliora respondens,” id. A. 12, 46: mollis versus, an elegiac or amatory poem, Ov. Tr. 2, 307; Prop. 1, 7, 19 (opp. durus versus, a heroic poem, id. 2, 1, 41): “ridere mollia,” to smile gently, Ov. A. A. 3, 513: “cuncta tamen ad imperatorem in mollius relata,” in a milder, more favorable light, Tac. A. 14, 39: “pilenta,” having a gentle motion, Verg. A. 8, 666; id. G. 2, 389: “mollissima fandi tempora,” id. A. 4, 293: “hora mollior,” more favorable, Ov. P. 3, 3, 84: “signa,” Cic. Brut. 18, 70: “duriora Callon, jam minus rigida Calamis, molliora adhuc supra dictis Myron fecit,” more agreeable, Quint. 12, 10, 7: “mollis animus et ad accipiendam et ad deponendam offensionem,” Cic. Att. 1, 17, 2: “in inimicitiis auricula infima mollior,” id. Q. Fr. 2, 13 (15), 4.—Subst.: molle , is, n., softness, smoothness: “molle atque facetum Vergilio adnuerunt Camenae,” Hor. S. 1, 10, 45.—
C. Weak, untrustworthy: “nihil est tam molle, tam tenerum, tam aut fragile aut flexibile quam voluntas erga nos civium,” Cic. Mil. 16, 42.—Hence, adv.: mollĭter .
1. Lit., softly, gently, agreeably (class.): “molliter sustine me,” Plaut. Ps. 5, 2, 7: “aves nidos mollissime substernunt,” Cic. N. D. 2, 52, 129: “recubans,” id. de Or. 3, 17, 63: “ossa cubent,” Ov. Tr. 3, 3, 76: “excudent alii spirantia mollius aera,” more easily, agreeably, Verg. A. 6, 847: “cura molliter semina conlocandi,” Plin. 15, 10, 9, § 35: “colles ad orientem molliter devexi,” gently, gradually, Col. 1, 2, 3 sq.—
2. Trop.: “quod ferendum est molliter sapienti,” calmly, patiently, Cic. Sen. 2, 5: “abnuere,” Liv. 30, 3: “delicate et molliter vivere,” voluptuously, Cic. Off. 1, 30, 106: “aegritudinem pati,” sensitively, weakly, Sall. J. 82, 2: “ne quid per metum, mollius consuleretur,” too compliantly, Liv. 30, 7, 3: “interpretari mollius aliquid,” rather mildly, favorably, Tac. H. 2, 96.