dē-scrībo — Lewis & Short
dē-scrībo, psi, ptum (in MSS. and edd. often confounded with discribo, q. v.), 3, v. a.
I To copy off, transcribe any thing from an original (freq. in Cic.;
elsewh. rare): scripsit Balbus ad me, se a te (i. e. e tuo exemplo) quintum de Finibus librum descripsisse,Cic. Att. 13, 21; cf. id. Ac. 2, 4, 11:
epistolam,id. Att. 8, 9; id. Fam. 12, 17, 2;
12, 7, 22: legem,Suet. Cal. 41; id. Dom. 20; so, to write down, write out:
carmina in foliis,Verg. A. 3, 445;
in carved letters: in viridi cortice carmina,id. E. 5, 14.— Class. and far more freq.,
II To sketch off, to describe in painting, writing, etc.: delineare, definire.
A Lit.:
non potuit pictor rectius describere ejus formam,Plaut. As. 2, 3, 22; so,
geometricas formas in harena,Cic. Rep. 1, 17 fin.:
formas in pulvere,Liv. 25, 31; cf. Cic. Fin. 5, 19; id. Clu. 32, 87; id. Sen. 14, 49:
sphaeram,id. Rep. 1, 14; cf.
caelum,Varr. R. R. 2, 1, 7:
caeli meatus radio,Verg. A. 6, 851; cf. id. E. 3, 41:
vitam votivā tabellā,Hor. S. 2, 1, 33 et saep.—
B Trop.
1 To represent, delineate, describe:
malos mores,Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 165; cf.:
hominum sermones moresque,Cic. Or. 40, 138:
definienda res erit verbis et breviter describenda,id. Inv. 1, 8 fin:
qualem (mulierem) ego paulo ante descripsi,id. Cael. 20, 50; id. Phil. 2, 44; id. Sull. 29 fin.:
me latronem ac sicarium,id. Mil. 18, 47:
si quis erat dignus describi, quod malus ac fur, etc.,Hor. S. 1, 4, 3:
malo carmine,id. Ep. 2, 1, 154; Quint. 3, 4, 3:
vulnera Parthi,Hor. S. 2, 1, 15:
lucum, aram Dianae, flumen Rhenum, pluvium arcum,id. A. P. 18 et saep.:
praecepta,id. S. 2, 3, 34:
facta versibus,Nep. Att. 18, 6. —Rarely
(b) with acc. and inf.:
nec qui descripsit corrumpi semina matrum,Ov. Tr. 2, 415; Gell. 9, 1.—Part. subst.: dēscrip-ta, ōrum, n.:
recitari factorum dictorumque ejus descripta per dies jussit,the diary, Tac. A. 6, 24.—
2 To mark off, define, divide, distribute into parts. (But whenever the notion of distribution or division is implied, the form discribo seems to have been used by class. writers; and is now restored where de-scr. is found in earlier edd., e.g. Cic. Rep. 2, 8; id. de Or. 2, 71, 288; id. Sest. 30, 66 et saep.) Cf.:
libertinos in quatuor urbanas tribus,Liv. 45, 15:
annum in duodecim menses,Liv. 1, 19; Flor. 1, 2, 2. —Without in.:
commode omnes descripti, aetates, classes, equitatus,Cic. Rep. 4, 2; and:
classes centuriasque et hunc ordinem ex censu descripsit,Liv. 1, 42:
terram,Vulg. Jos. 18, 6 al. et saep.—
3 Aliquid (alicui), to ascribe, apportion, appoint, assign to any one (cf. remark, no. 2 supra); cf.: vecturas frumenti finitimis civitatibus, * Caes. B. C. 3, 42, 4; Liv. 1, 32 al.:
officia,to define, Cic. Ac. 2, 36; id. Fam. 12, 1:
vices (poetae),Hor. A. P. 86:
munera pugnae,Sil. 9, 267 et saep.—Hence, dēscrip-tus, a, um, P. a., qs. marked out, i. e. precisely ordered, properly arranged (ap. Cic.):
materies orationis omnibus locis descripta, instructa ornataque,Cic. de Or. 2, 34, 145; cf.:
ordo verborum,id. Or. 59, 200:
natura nihil est aptius, nihil descriptius,id. Fin. 3, 22, 74.—Neutr. plur. as subst.: dēscrip-ta, orum, things recorded, writings, Tac. A. 6, 24.—Sup. does not occur.—* Adv.: dē-scriptē, distinctly, precisely:
descripte et electe digerere, opp. confuse et permixte dispergere,Cic. Inv. 1, 30, 49.