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circum-scrībo , psi, ptum, 3, v. a.
I. Prop., to draw a line around, to circumscribe, enclose in a circle (in good prose; “very freq. in Cic.): orbem,Cic. Fin. 5, 8, 23: “lineas extremas umbrae,Quint. 10, 2, 7: “virgulā stantem,Cic. Phil. 8, 8, 23: “virgā regem,Liv. 45, 12, 5: “aeneā fibulā pars auriculae latissima circumscribitur,Col. 6, 5, 4: “terram surculo heliotropii,Plin. 22, 21, 29, § 60.—
II. Trop.
B. To bring within narrow bounds, i. e. to contract, hem in, circumscribe, to hinder free action, to restrain, confine, limit, etc. (syn.: claudo, includo, coërceo).
2. In later medic. lang. circumscribi = minui, to abate, subside: “gravedo circumscribitur,Cael. Aur. Tard. 5, 10; so id. Acut. 2, 10 fin.
C. To encircle or go around by writing = scribendo circumdare, i. e. to deceive, cheat, circumvent, entrap, insnare (syn.: “circumvenio, decipio): fallacibus et captiosis interrogationibus circumscripti atque decepti,Cic. Ac. 2, 15, 46; Plin. 7, 40, 41, § 131; 33, 3, 14, § 48: non circumscribetur, qui ita se gesserit, ut dicat, etc., will not be deceived, i. e. will commit no error, Sen. Q. N. 5, 1, 3; id. Ep. 82, 19.—
2. In mercantile lang., to deprive of money, to overreach, defraud: “adulescentulos,Cic. Phil. 14, 3, 7; Juv. 10, 222; 14, 237: “ab Roscio HS. IↃↃↃ. circumscriptus,Cic. Rosc. Com. 8, 24: “vectigalia,to embezzle, Quint. Decl. 340.—
3. In law, to defeat the purpose of a law, a will, etc., by a forced or too literal interpretation: “legem,Dig. 4, 3, 18 fin.: “ita circumscripto testamento,Plin. Ep. 8, 18, 4; Front. Aquaed. 112: constitutiones, Lact. de Ira Dei, 8.—
4. Of circumlocution, to involve in language: “oratio rem simplicem circumscribens elocutione,Auct. Her. 4, 32, 43; cf.: “facetis jocis sacrilegium circumscribens,covering, Just. 39, 2, 5.—
D. To cancel; to declare invalid, to annul, invalidate, void, set aside (cf. circumduco, II. D.): “hoc omni tempore Sullano ex accusatione circumscripto,Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 16, § 43 (sublato, circumducto, praetermisso, Ascon.): “circumscriptis igitur iis seutentiis, quas posui, etc.,id. Fin. 3, 9, 31.—Hence, circumscriptus , a, um, P. a.
1. (Acc. to II. A.) In rhet., rounded into periods, periodic: “circumscripti verborum ambitus,Cic. Or. 12, 38; cf. Auct. Her. 4, 32, 43; Quint. 12, 10, 5, and v. circumscriptio.—Adv.: circum-scriptē , in periods: “circumscripte numeroseque dicere,Cic. Or. 66, 221: circumscripte complecti singulas res. id. N. D. 2, 59, 147.—
2. (Acc. to II. B.) Restricted, limited: “brevis et circumscripta quaedam explicatio,Cic. de Or. 1, 42, 189: “(vis orationis) pressior et circumscriptior et adductior,Plin. Ep. 1, 16, 4.—Adv.: circum-scriptē , summarily: “circumscripte et breviter ostendere,Lact. 5, 14, 8; 5, 9, 20. —Sup. of the adj., and comp. and sup. of the adv. not in use.
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hide References (38 total)
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries from this page (38):
    • Cicero, Letters to Atticus, 7.9.2
    • Cicero, Philippics, 13.9.19
    • Cicero, Philippics, 14.3.7
    • Cicero, Philippics, 6.3.5
    • Cicero, Philippics, 8.8.23
    • Cicero, For Quintus Roscius the Actor, 8.24
    • Cicero, For Rabirius on a Charge of Treason, 10.30
    • Cicero, For Archias, 11.29
    • Cicero, Against Verres, 2.1.43
    • Cicero, Against Verres, 2.2.149
    • Cicero, For Milo, 33.88
    • Cicero, For Sestius, 45.97
    • Caesar, Civil War, 1.32
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 1.16
    • Cicero, On Oratory, 1.42
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 22.60
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 33.48
    • Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, 22.4
    • Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, 1.16.4
    • Pliny the Younger, Epistulae, 8.18.4
    • Livy, The History of Rome, Book 45, 12.5
    • Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, 3.9
    • Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum, 5.8
    • Cicero, de Natura Deorum, 2.59
    • Cicero, Paradoxa Stoicorum, 2
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 9, 3.72
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 10, 2.7
    • Quintilian, Institutio Oratoria, Book 12, 10.5
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 12.13.20
    • Gellius, Noctes Atticae, 4.1.12
    • Seneca, Epistulae, 108.14
    • Seneca, Epistulae, 15.2
    • Seneca, Epistulae, 82.19
    • Columella, Res Rustica, 1.1.10
    • Columella, Res Rustica, 6.5.4
    • Cicero, Orator, 12.38
    • Cicero, Orator, 59.200
    • Cicero, Orator, 66.221
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