dēfectĭo — Lewis & Short
dēfectĭo, ōnis, f.deficio.
I Defection, desertion, rebellion, revolt.
A Lit.:
rebellio facta post deditionem, defectio datis obsidibus,Caes. B. G. 3, 10; 5, 26; 6, 3, 4; Liv. 7, 42; 23, 12: Ampsivariorum a tergo, in the rear (of Caesar), Tac. A. 2, 8; 4, 24 et saep.:
subita defectio Pompeii,Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 4, 4 al.:
imperii,from the empire, Just. 41, 2, 1.—*
B Trop.:
intemperantia, quae est a tota mente et a recta ratione defectio,Cic. Tusc. 4, 9, 22.—
II (Acc. to deficio, no. III.) A failing, failure, deficiency, want, disappearance.
a Lit. (so most freq.):
ista ipsa defectio virium adolescentiae vitiis efficitur saepius quam senectutis,Cic. de Sen. 9, 29:
aquarum, Frontin. Aquaed. 91: pecuniae,Macr. Sat. 2, 5:
rerum,Sen. Q. N. 4, 2.—
b Esp. of the obscuration of the heavenly bodies, an eclipse:
solis defectiones itemque lunae praedicuntur in multos annos,Cic. Div. 2, 6, 17; 1, 49 fin.; id. N. D. 2, 61; id. Rep. 1, 14 fin.; Sen. Q. N. 1, 12; Quint. 1, 10, 47; Tac. A. 1, 28 et saep.—
c Also (sc. virium), exhaustion, faintness, swooning, fainting (post-Aug. prose), Plin. 23, praef. §
4: animae,a swoon, Cels. 7, 33; Suet. Cal. 50:
alvo usque ad defectionem soluta,id. Vesp. 24; cf. id. Tib. 73:
recreandae defectioni cibum adferre,Tac. A. 6, 56 (50); cf.: defectione perire, by exhaustion, i. e. by disease, Sen. N. Q. 2, 59, 11:
in cunctis renibus,Vulg. Nahum 2, 10.—
d In the later grammarians, an ellipsis:
dicere aliquid per defectionem,by ellipsis, elliptically, Gell. 5, 8, 3; 12, 14, 3; Macr. Sat. 6, 8 al.— *
B Trop.:
Quintus frater omnia mittit spei plena, metuens credo defectionem animi mei,my want of courage, despondency, Cic. Att. 3, 18.