I.a multitude of objects of the same kind, rising in a heap.
I. Prop.
A. A heap considered as a body: “frumenti,” Plaut. Ps. 1, 2, 55; cf. id. Cas. 1, 1, 38; Att. ap. Non. 192, 3: “altus,” Lucr. 3, 198; 1, 775: “ut acervus ex sui generis granis, sic beata vita ex sui similibus partibus effici debeat,” Cic. Tusc. 5, 15: “acervi corporum,” id. Cat. 3, 10: “pecuniae,” id. Agr. 2, 22: “tritici,” id. Ac. 2, 29: “farris,” Verg. G. 1, 185; thus Ovid calls Chaos: caecus acervus, M. 1, 24.—
B. A heap considered as a multitude (cf. Germ. Haufen and Eng. colloq. heap): “aeris et auri,” Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 47.—
II. Fig.
A. In gen., a multitude: “facinorum,” Cic. Sull. 27: “officiorum negotiorumque,” Plin. 36, 5, 4, § 27: praeceptorum, Ov. Rem. Am. 424 al.—
B. Esp., in dialectics, t. t., a sophism formed by accumulation, Gr. σωρείτης, Cic. Ac. 2, 16, 49; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 47; cf. acervalis.