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virga , ae, f. root varg; v. virgo,
I.a slender green branch, a twig, sprout, switch, rod.
I. Lit.
A. In gen., Cato, R. R. 101; Varr. R. R. 1, 59, 4; Plin. 17, 18, 30, § 136; 24, 19, 112, § 172; Verg. G. 1, 266; Ov. M. 3, 29; 11, 109.—
B. In partic.
1. A graft, scion, set, Ov. M. 14, 630.—
2. A limetwig, Ov. M. 15, 474.—
3. A rod, switch for flogging, Plaut. Capt. 3, 4, 117; id. Bacch. 4, 6, 10; id. Cas. 5, 4, 24; “for governing horses, etc.: virga quā ad regendum equum usus est,Front. 4, 5, 16; Val. Max. 3, 2, 12: “nobilis equus umbrā quoque virgae regitur,Curt. 7, 4, 18; Mart. 9, 22, 14; cf. Luc. 4, 683; Juv. 3, 317.—Of the small rods in the fasces of the lictors, with which criminals were scourged, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 62, § 161; Plin. 7, 43, 44, § 136.—Hence, poet., for fasces, as a designation of one of the higher magistrates, Ov. Tr. 5, 6, 32; Stat. S. 1, 2, 47; Mart. 8, 66, 4.—
4. A wand, a staff, as a support, Liv. 45, 12; Ov. F. 2, 706.—
5. A magic wand, Verg. A. 7, 190; Ov. M. 14, 278; 14, 295; 14, 300.—
II. Transf.
A. A stalk of the flax-plant, Plin. 19, 1, 3, § 17.—
B. A streak, stripe in the heavens, a water-gall, Sen. Q. N. 1, 9 and 10.—
C. A colored stripe in a garment: “purpureae,Ov. A. A. 3, 269. —
D. A twig or branch of the ancestral tree, Juv. 8, 7.—
E. Genitalium, = membrum virile, Cassiod. Anim, 9.
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hide References (17 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (17):
    • Cicero, Against Verres, 2.5.161
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 14.278
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 14.630
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 3.29
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses, 15.474
    • Plautus, Bacchides, 4.6
    • Plautus, Captivi, 3.4
    • Vergil, Aeneid, 7.190
    • Vergil, Georgics, 1.266
    • Lucan, Civil War, 4.683
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 19.17
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 45, 12
    • Ovid, Tristia, 5.6
    • Statius, Silvae, 1.2
    • Curtius, Historiarum Alexandri Magni, 7.4.18
    • Ovid, Fasti, 2
    • Valerius Maximus, Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, 3.2.12
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