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mollis , e, adj. Gr. μαλακός, ἀμαλός, μῶλυς; cf. βληχρός, perh. Lat. mulier (mollior),
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.—
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 .
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.
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hide References (71 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (71):
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 1.17.2
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 2.1.6
    • Cicero, Letters to his brother Quintus, 2.13
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    • Caesar, Civil War, 2.10
    • Tacitus, Annales, 12.46
    • Tacitus, Annales, 14.39
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 2.96
    • Tacitus, Historiae, 4.32
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 1.52
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 3.17
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 3.45
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 15.35
    • A. Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, 3.12
    • A. Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, 4.4
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 30, 7.3
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 42, 62
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 30, 3
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 22, 2
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 33, 28
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    • Cicero, De Officiis, 1.30
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 1, 2.6
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 1, 6.22
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 4, 2.46
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 11, 3.128
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 11, 3.23
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 12, 10.7
    • Seneca, Epistulae, 87
    • Tacitus, Germania, 1
    • Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, 82
    • Ovid, Tristia, 3.3
    • Ovid, Tristia, 4.3
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    • Cicero, Brutus, 9.38
    • Ovid, Fasti, 2
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