I.perf. vacui, Tert. Pall. 4; id. Pud. 8 fin.; id. adv. Val. 9), v. n. etym. dub., to be empty, void, or vacant; to be void of, or without; not to contain (class.; cf.: careo, egeo).
I. In gen.
A. Lit., of space, etc.
1. Absol.: “quācumque vacat spatium, quod inane vocamus,” Lucr. 1, 507; so, “spatium,” id. 2, 1053; 6, 1029: “inane,” id. 1, 520: “villa ita completa militibus est, ut vix triclinium ... vacaret,” Cic. Att. 13, 52, 1: “tota domus superior vacat,” id. ib. 13, 12, 10: “aedes,” Plaut. Cas. 3, 1, 7: “maximam putant esse laudem, quam latissime a suis finibus vacare agros,” to be uninhabited, uncultivated, Caes. B. G. 4, 3: “locus,” id. ib. 1, 28; Quint. 8, 6, 18; 9, 4, 118; 10, 3, 33: “ostia septem Pulverulenta vacant, septem sine flumine valles,” Ov. M. 2, 256: “odi cum late splendida cera vacat,” id. Am. 1, 11, 20: “haec fiunt dum vacat harena,” Sen. Ep. 7, 4.—
2. With abl. (so most freq.): “illa natura caelestis et terra vacat et umore,” Cic. Tusc. 1, 26, 65; cf. id. N. D. 2, 24, 64: “mens vacans corpore,” id. ib. 1, 10, 25: “hoste vacare domos,” Verg. A. 3, 123: “(domus) quae Igne vacet,” Ov. M. 2, 764: “custode vacans,” id. ib. 2, 422: “ora vacent epulis,” i. e. abstain from, id. ib. 15, 478: ea pars oppidi, quae fluminis circuitu vacabat, Auct. B. G. 8, 41. —
B. Transf., to be vacant. free from, without, unoccupied, etc.
1. With abl.: “ejusmodi (nimiis animi) motibus sermo debet vacare,” Cic. Off. 1, 38, 136: “nulla vitae pars vacare officio potest,” id. ib. 1, 2, 4: “omni curatione et administratione rerum (dii),” id. N. D. 1, 1, 2: “studiis,” id. de Or. 3, 11, 43: “curā et negotio,” id. Leg. 1, 3, 8: “vitio,” id. ib. 3, 3, 10: “culpā,” id. Fam. 7, 3, 4: “criminibus,” Quint. 10, 1, 34: “febri,” Cels. 2, 14 med.: “morbis,” Dig. 21, 1, 53: “amplitudo animi pulchrior, si vacet populo,” keeps free from, remains aloof from, Cic. Tusc. 2, 26, 64: “respublica et milite illic et pecuniā vacet,” be free from the necessity of furnishing, Liv. 2, 48, 9.—
2. With ab and abl.: “nullum tempus illi umquam vacabat aut a forensi dictione aut a scribendo,” Cic. Brut. 78, 272: “(rex) quicquid a bellis populi Romani vacabat, cum hominibus nostris consuetudines jungebat,” id. Deiot. 9, 27: “a publico officio et munere,” id. Div. 2, 2, 7: “ab opere (milites),” Caes. B. C. 3, 76: “ne quando a metu ac periculis vacarent,” Liv. 7, 1: “vacant ab imbecillis valetudinaria,” Col. 12, 3, 8: “a culpā,” Sen. Ep. 97, 1: “a periculo,” id. Q. N. 6, 1, 1: “a negotiis,” Phaedr. 3 prol.—
II. In partic.
A. To be free from labor, not busied, idle, at leisure; to have leisure or time: “quamvis occupatus sis, otii tamen plus habes: aut, si ne tu quidem vacas, noli, etc.,” Cic. Fam. 12, 30, 1; cf. Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 13, 1; Quint. 10, 3, 27: “festus in pratis vacat otioso Cum bove pagus,” Hor. C. 3, 18, 11: “si vacabis,” Cic. Att. 12, 38, 2: “si forte vacas,” Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 95.—
2. After the Aug. per. esp. freq.
a. Vacare alicui rei, to be free to attend, apply, or devote one's self to something; to have leisure or time for a thing (cf. studeo): “philosophiae, Quinte, semper vaco,” Cic. Div. 1, 6, 10: “in itinere, quasi solutus ceteris curis, huic uni vacaret,” Plin. Ep. 3, 5, 15: “huic uni negotio vacare,” Vell. 2, 114, 1: “ille non vacasse sermoni suo regem causatus discessit,” Curt. 6, 7, 21: “paulum etiam palaestricis,” Quint. 1, 11, 15: “studio operis pulcherrimi,” id. 12, 1, 4: “foro,” id. 10, 1, 114: “clientium negotiis,” Tac. A. 16, 22: “non discendo tantum juri, sed etiam docendo,” Quint. 12, 1, 10: “libellis legendis ac rescribendis,” Suet. Aug. 45: “queruntur de superiorum fastidio, quod ipsis adire volentibus non vacaverint,” have no leisure for them, can not attend to them, Sen. Brev. Vit. 2, 5.—Rarely absol.: “dum perago tecum pauca sed apta, vaca,” Ov. Am. 2, 2, 2.—
b. Vacare ad aliquid: “non vaco ad istas ineptias,” Sen. Ep. 49, 9; cf. (poet.): “in grande opus,” Ov. P. 3, 3, 36; also, with inf.: “sternere acies,” Stat. Th. 8, 185.—
c. Vacat (alicui), impers., there is time, room, or leisure for a thing (poet. and in post-Aug. prose).
(α).
With inf. (so most freq.): si primā repetens ab origine pergam Et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum, Verg. A. 1, 373: “tunc et elegiam vacabit in manus sumere,” Quint. 10, 1, 58: “non vacabit incohare haec studia,” id. 1, 12, 12: hactenus indulsisse vacat, it is permitted, i. q. licet, Verg. A. 10, 625 Heyne; imitated by Sil. 17, 374.—
(β).
With dat., I (thou, he, etc.) have leisure or time for a thing: “nobis venari nec vacat nec libet,” Plin. Ep. 9, 16, 1: “non vacat exiguis rebus adesse Jovi,” Ov. Tr. 2, 216: “nec nostris praebere vacet tibi cantibus aures,” id. M. 5, 334: “obstat enim diligentiae scribendi etiam fatigatio et abunde, si vacet, lucis spatia sufficiunt,” Quint. 10, 3, 27: “cui esse diserto vacet,” id. 11, 1, 50: “quo magis te, cui vacat, hortor, etc.,” Plin. Ep. 1, 10, 11; 8, 15, 1; Curt. 10, 10, 12; Vell. 1, 15, 1; 2, 124, 1.— Absol.: “teneri properentur amores, Dum vacat,” Ov. Am. 3, 1, 70: “si vacat,” Juv. 1, 21. —
B. Of possessions, lands, etc., to be unoccupied, vacant, ownerless: “cum agri Ligustini ... aliquantum vacaret, senatūs consultum est factum, ut is ager viritim divideretur,” Liv. 42, 4, 3: “fundi possessionem nancisci, quae ex neglegentiā domini vacat,” Dig. 41, 3, 37: “si nemo sit, bona vacabunt,” ib. 38, 7, 2 fin.—
2. Esp., of offices, relations, positions, employments, etc., to be vacant, without incumbent, etc.: “si Piso adesset, nullius philosophiae vacaret locus,” Cic. N. D. 1, 7, 16: quid enim nostrā victum esse Antonium, si victus est, ut alii vacaret, quod ille obtinuit? may stand open, Brut. ap. Cic. Ep. ad Brut. 1, 17, 6: “rogo ut Suram praeturā exornare digneris, cuia locus vacet,” Plin. Ep. 10, 12 (7), 1: “rogo dignitati... vel auguratum vel septemviratum, quia vacant, adicere digneris,” id. ib. 10, 13 (8).— Hence, văcans , antis, P. a.
A. Empty, unoccupied, without an owner, vacant: “locus,” Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 16, 8: “metaphora ... vacantem locum occupare debet,” Quint. 8, 6, 18: “regnum,” Just. 42, 4, 2; 25, 2, 4; 27, 3, 1: “saltus,” Verg. G. 3, 477: “balneae,” Tac. H. 3, 11: “bona,” Dig. 30, 1, 93; 30, 1, 111.— Subst.: văcantia , ĭum, n., vacant estates, property without an owner: “ut, si a privilegiis parentum cessaretur, velut parens omnium populus vacantia teneret,” Tac. A. 3, 28.—
B. Of women, single, unmarried, without a husband: “qui vacantem mulierem rapuit vel nuptam,” Dig. 48, 6, 5; Quint. Decl. 262 (cf. vacua, Ov. H. 20, 149).—
C. Of persons, at leisure, unoccupied, idle: “nec petiit animum vacantem,” Ov. M. 9, 612.— Subst.: văcantĭa , ĭum, n., that which is superfluous, useless (post-class.): “vacantia ex quāque re ac non necessariā auferre et excidere,” Gell. 6, 5, 6.—Hence, adv.: vă-canter , superfluously, Gell. 17, 10, 16.
