căvillor — Lewis & Short
căvillor, ātus, 1, v. n. and
I a. [cavilla], to practise jeering or mocking; or (act.) to censure, criticise; to satirize in jest or earnest, to jest, etc. (syn.: jocari, ludere, illudere).
(a) Absol.:
familiariter cum ipso etiam cavillor ac jocor,Cic. Att. 2, 1, 5; cf. Liv. 39, 13, 3; 39, 42, 9; Suet. Tib. 8:
facetissime apud aliquem,Gell. 5, 5, 1.—
(b) With acc.:
togam ejus praetextam,Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 10 (12), 2:
hanc artem ut tenuem ac jejunam,Quint. 1, 4, 5:
verba patrum,Tac. A. 1, 46:
tribunos plebis,Liv. 2, 58, 9:
milites Romanos,id. 5, 15, 4 et saep.—Hence, cavillatus in pass. sense, App. M. 9, p. 230.—
(g) With an objective clause:
in eo et etiam cavillatus est, aestate grave esse aureum amiculum, hieme frigidum,Cic. N. D. 3, 34, 83. —*
II Meton., to reason captiously, to use sophisms, to quibble, Liv. 3, 20, 4; Plin. 11, 51, 112, § 267; 35, 10, 36, § 85.