aetas — Lewis & Short
aetas, ātis, f.contr. from the anteclass. aevitas from aevum, q. v.; Prisc. 595 P.; cf. Welsh oet (
I gen. plur. aetatum;
but freq. also aetatium,Liv. 1, 43; 9, 17; 26, 9; cf. Oud. ad Suet. Aug. 31; Vell. 2, 89; Sen. Brev. Vit. 12, 2; Gell. 14, 1).
I The period of life, time of life, life, age (divided, acc. to Varr. ap. Censor. 14, into pueritia, from birth to the 15th year; adulescentia, from that time to the 30th; juventus, to the 45th; the age of the seniores, to the 60th; and, finally, senectus, from that time till death. Others make a different division, v. Flor. 1 prooem.; Isid. Orig. 11, 2; Gell. 10, 28; 15, 20):
a primo tempore aetatis,Cic. Leg. 1, 4, 13:
prima aetas,id. Off. 2, 13:
ineuntis aetatis inscientia,id. ib. 1, 34;
so 2, 13: flos aetatis,the bloom of life, id. Phil. 2, 2; Liv. 21; Suet. Caes. 49; so,
bona aetas,Cic. Sen. 14; and poet. in the plur.:
ambo florentes aetatibus,Verg. E. 7, 4: quamquam aetas senet, satis habeo tamen virium, ut te arā arceam, Pac. ap. Prisc. 1, 10; id. ap. Non. 159, 19:
mala aetas,old age, Plaut. Men. 5, 2, 6; and absol.: aetas, aevitas = senectus, old age, SI MORBVS AEVITASVE VITIVM ESCIT, Fragm. of the XII. Tab. ap. Gell. 20, 1, 25: aetate (through age) non quis obtuerier, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 154; 1, 3, 130; id. Bacch. 3, 3, 5:
sed ipse morbo atque aetate confectus,Sall. J. 9:
graves aetate,Liv. 7, 39.—Sometimes also absol. = adulescentia, youth:
fui ego illā aetate et feci illa omnia,Plaut. Bacch. 4, 10, 4; id. Most. 5, 2, 27:
damna, dedecora aetas ipsius pertulit,Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 12:
tua autem aetas (of his son),id. Off. 2, 13:
(mulier) non formā, non aetate, non opibus maritum invenerit,Tac. G. 19:
expers belli propter aetatem,Suet. Aug. 8: aetas consularis, the legal age for the consulship, i. e. the 43d year, Cic. Phil. 5, 17:
id aetatis jam sumus,we have now reached that time of life, id. Fam. 6, 20, 3.—
II Transf.
A In gen., the lifetime of man, without reference to its different stages; life, Enn. ap. Gell. 18, 2, 16:
aetas acta honeste et splendide,Cic. Tusc. 3, 25:
gerere,id. Fam. 4, 5 al.:
tempus aetatis,id. Sen. 19:
aetatem consumere in studio aliquo,id. Off. 1, 1:
conterere in litibus,id. Leg. 1, 20:
degere omnem in tranquillitate,id. Fin. 2, 35; cf. id. Rosc. Am. 53 al.—In Ov. M. 12, 188, aetas = centum annos.—
B A space of time, an age, generation, time:
heroicae aetates,Cic. Tusc. 5, 3, 7:
haec aetas,id. ib. 1, 3, 5; id. Rep. 1, 1:
alia,id. Lael. 27, 101 Beier:
nostrā aetate,in our times, Quint. 1, 4, 20:
cum primis aetatis suae comparabatur,Nep. Iphicr. 1; Vell. 1, 16:
incuriosa suorum aetas,Tac. Agr. 1:
omnia fert aetas,time, Verg. E. 9, 51; so Hor. C. 4, 9, 10:
crastina aetas,the morrow, Stat. Th. 3, 562. —Of the four ages of the world (the golden age, silver age, etc.), Ov. M. 1, 89 sq.; v. aureus, argenteus, etc.—
C Abstr. pro concreto, the time or period of life, for the man himself, the age, for the men living in it (mostly poet., and in prose after the Aug. per.; cf.
saeculum): sibi inimicus magis quam aetati tuae, i. e. tibi,Plaut. Men. 4, 3, 1:
vae aetati tuae,id. Capt. 4, 2, 105:
quid nos dura refugimus Aetas?Hor. C. 1, 35, 34:
impia,id. Epod. 16, 9:
veniens,Ov. F. 6, 639:
omnis aetas currere obviam,Liv. 27, 51:
omnis sexus, omnis aetas,Tac. A. 13, 16:
innoxiam liberorum aetatem miserarentur, i. e. innocentes liberos,id. H. 3, 68:
sexum, aetatem, ordinem omnem,Suet. Calig. 4.—
D Also of things without life, e. g. of wine, its age: bibite Falernum hoc: annorum quadraginta est. Bene, inquit, aetatem fert, it keeps well, Cic. ap. Macr. S. 2, 2, 3; Plin. 23, 1, 20, § 33; 15, 2, 3, § 7.—So of buildings:
aetates aedificiorum,Dig. 30, 58.—
E Aetatem, a dverb. (ante-class.).
1 = semper, perpetuo, through the whole of life, during lifetime, continually:
ut aetatem ambo nobis sint obnoxii,Plaut. As. 2, 2, 18:
at tu aegrota, si lubet, per me aetatem quidem,id. Curc. 4, 3, 22:
Quid, malum, me aetatem censes velle id adsimularier,Ter. Heaut. 4, 3, 38.—
2 = diu, longo tempore, an age, a long time, a long while:
an abiit jam a milite? Jamdudum aetatem,Ter. Eun. 4, 5, 8:
quod solis vapor aetatem non posse videtur efficere,what the heat of the sun cannot perhaps effect for years, Lucr. 6, 236.—
F In aetate, adverb. (ante-class.).
1 At times, sometimes, now and then, Plaut. Trin. 1, 1, 2.—
2 At any time, always, ever, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 61.