1. fĕnestra — Lewis & Short
fĕnestra, ae (also contr. festra, Enn. ap. f.root *f*a*n, in fai/nw, fanero/s,
Macr. S. 3, 12; Petr. Fragm. p. 872 Burm.; cf. Paul. ex Fest. p. 91, 6 Müll.),I an opening in the wall to admit the light, a window (orig. closed by two wooden shutters or by curtains, and not till the empire by sheets of mica, lapis specularis; cf.
Dict. of Antiq. p. 520 sq.): neque fenestra, nisi clatrata,Plaut. Mil. 2, 4, 26:
fenestras indere,id. Rud. 1, 1, 6:
fenestrarum angustias quod reprehendis,Cic. Att. 2, 3, 2:
bifores,Ov. P. 3, 3, 5: juncta, closed, * Hor. C. 1, 25, 1; cf.
patulae,Ov. M. 14, 752:
reticulatae,Varr. R. R. 3, 7, 3:
se plena per insertas fundebat luna fenestras,Verg. A. 3, 152:
diversas percurrens luna fenestras,Prop. 1, 3, 31 Burm. ad loc.:
fenestram in arca facies,Vulg. Gen. 6, 16 et saep.—
II Transf.
1 A loop-hole for arrows, etc.:
(in turri) fenestras ad tormenta mittenda, in struendo reliquerunt,Caes. B. C. 2, 9 fin.—
2 The recess of a window:
concludere in fenestram firmiter,Plaut. Cas. 1, 44.—
3 A breach made by besiegers in a wall:
excisa trabe firma cavavit Robora et ingentem lato dedit ore fenestram,Verg. A. 2, 482.—
4 Of the senses, windows for intelligence:
ut facile intelligi possit, animum et videre et audire, non eas partes, quae quasi fenestrae sint animi,Cic. Tusc. 1, 20, 46—
B Poet., transf., of holes through the tips of the ears:
natus ad Euphraten, molles quod in aure fenestrae Arguerint,Juv. 1, 104.—
II Trop., an entrance, admission, opportunity, inlet, occasion (very seldom):
hui quantam fenestram ad nequitiam patefeceris!Ter. Heaut. 3, 1, 72: si hanc fenestram aperueritis, nihil aliud agi sinetis, Tiber. ap. Suet. Tib. 28.