aestus — Lewis & Short
aestus, ūs (archaic
I gen. aesti, Pac. 97 Rib.; rare form of nom. plur. aestuus). m. kind. with aestas and Gr. ai)/qw; v. aestas, an undulating, boiling, waving, tossing; a waving, heaving, billowy motion.
I Lit.
A Of fire; hence, in gen., fire, glow, heat (orig. in relation to its flashing up; while fervor denotes a glowing, ardor a burning, and calor a warming heat; yet it was early used for warming heat;
v. the following example): nam fretus ipse anni permiscet frigus et aestum,heat and cold are blended, Lucr. 6, 364 (for which calor, id. 6, 368, 371 al.):
multa aestu victa per agros,id. 5, 1104:
exsuperant flammae, furit aestus ad auras,Verg. A. 2, 759:
caniculae,Hor. C. 1, 17, 18; so id. Ep. 1, 8, 5:
labore et aestu languidus,Sall. J. 51.—In plur.:
neque frigora neque aestus facile tolerabat,Suet. Aug. 81.—So of midday heat:
aestibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere vallem,Verg. G. 3, 331 (cf. Cic. Ac. 2, 22: ille cum aestuaret, umbram secutus est).—And of the heat of disease (of wounds, fever, inflammation, etc.): ulceris aestus, Att. ap. Cic. Tusc. 2, 7, 19:
homines aegri cum aestu febrique jactantur,Cic. Cat. 1, 13.—
B The undulating, heaving motion of the sea, the swell, surge: fervet aestu pelagus, Pac. ap. Cic. de Or. 3, 39; hence, meton. for the sea in agitation, waves, billows:
delphines aestum secabant,Verg. A. 8, 674:
furit aestus harenis,id. ib. 1, 107:
aestus totos campos inundaverant,Curt. 9, 9, 18.—In Verg. once of the boiling up of water in a vessel: exsultant aestu latices, Aen. 7, 464.—
C Esp., the periodical flux and reflux or ebb and flow of the sea, the tide (cf. Varr. L. L. 9, 19; Mel. 3, 1:
aestus maris accedere et reciprocare maxime mirum, pluribus quidem modis, sed causa in sole lunāque,Plin. 2, 97, 99); Plaut. As. 1, 3, 6: quid de fretis aut de marinis aestibus dicam? quorum accessus et recessus (flow and ebb) lunae motu gubernantur, Cic. Div. 2, 14 fin.:
crescens,Plin. 2, 100, 97, § 219:
decedens,id. ib.:
recedens,id. 2, 98, 101, § 220: secundus, in our favor, Sall. Fragm. ap. Gell. 10, 26, 2: adversus, against us, id. ap. Non. 138, 8.—
II Trop.
A The passionate ferment or commotion of the mind, the fire, glow, ardor of any (even a good) passion (cf. aestuo, II. A.):
et belli magnos commovit funditus aestus (genus humanum),has stirred up from their very bottom the waves of discord, Lucr. 5, 1434:
civilis belli aestus,Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 47 (cf. id. C. 2, 7, 15):
repente te quasi quidam aestus ingenii tui procul a terrā abripuit atque in altum abstraxit,Cic. de Or. 3, 36:
hunc absorbuit aestus quidam gloriae,id. Brut. 81:
stultorum regum et populorum continet aestus,Hor. Ep. 1, 2, 8:
perstet et, ut pelagi, sic pectoris adjuvet aestum,the glow of love, Ov. H. 16, 25.—
B A vacillating, irresolute state of mind, doubt, uncertainty, hesitation, trouble, embarrassment, anxiely:
qui tibi aestus, qui error, quae tenebrae,Cic. Div. in Caecin. 14:
vario fluctuat aestu,Verg. A. 12, 486:
amor magno irarum fluctuat aestu,id. ib. 4, 532; cf. id. ib. 8, 19:
aestus curaeque graves,Hor. S. 1, 2, 110.—
C In the Epicurean philos. lang. of Lucretius, the undulatory flow or stream of atoms, atomic efflux, as the cause of perception (cf. affluo, I.):
Perpetuoque fluunt certis ab rebus odores, Frigus ut a fluviis, calor ab sole, aestus ab undis Aequoris, exesor moerorum litora propter, etc.,Lucr. 6, 926; and in id. 6, 1002 sq., the magnetic fluid is several times designated by aestus lapidis.