1. mĕdĭō^cris — Lewis & Short
mĕdĭō^cris, e (ō usually; rarely ŏ), adj.medius,
I in a middle state between too much and too little, middling, moderate, tolerable, ordinary; sometimes also, not remarkable, indifferent, mediocre.
I In gen. (class.).
A Lit., of size, quantity, degree, etc., in material things:
castellum,Sall. J. 92, 5:
spatium,Caes. B. G. 5, 43:
agmen,Hirt. B. G. 8, 9:
intervallum,id. B. Alex. 30.—
B Of mind, character, ability, acts, achievements, etc.:
C. L. Memmii fuerunt oratores mediocres,Cic. Brut. 36, 136:
L. Cotta in mediocrium oratorum numero,id. ib. 36, 137:
non mediocres viri, sed maximi et docti,id. Rep. 3, 11, 19:
homines,id. de Or. 1, 21, 94:
vir,Just. 1, 4, 4:
poëta,Hor. A. P. 372:
in mediocribus vel studiis vel officiis,Cic. Rep. 1, 3, 4:
amicitia,id. Lael. 6, 10:
malum,id. Tusc. 3, 10, 22:
artes,id. de Or. 1, 2, 6:
eloquentia,id. ib. 1, 29, 133:
ingenium,id. ib. 2, 27, 119:
excusare ... mediocris est animi,narrow, small, Caes. B. C. 3, 20:
ut mediocris jacturae te mergat onus,Juv. 13, 7.—
II Esp.
A Per litoten, with non (haud, nec), not insignificant, not common or trivial:
Jugurthae non mediocrem animum pollicitando accendebant,i. e. ardent, ambitious, Sall. J. 8, 1:
non mediocris hominis haec sunt officia,Ter. Ad. 5, 9, 9:
haud mediocris hic, ut ego quidem intellego, vir fuit,Cic. Rep. 2, 31, 55: nec mediocre telum ad res gerendas, id. Lael. 17, 61:
non mediocrem sibi diligentiam adhibendam intellegebat,uncommon, extraordinary, Caes. B. G. 3, 20:
praemium non mediocre,Suet. Vesp. 18:
non mediocris dissensio,Quint. 9, 1, 10 et saep.—*
B With syllaba, common = anceps:
syllabarum longarum et brevium et mediocrium junctura,Gell. 16, 18, 5.—Hence, adv.: mĕdĭō^crĭ-ter.
1 Moderately, tolerably, ordinarily, not particularly, not very, not remarkably, not much (class.):
ordo annalium mediocriter nos retinet,Cic. Fam. 5, 12, 5:
corpus mediocriter aegrum,id. Tusc. 3, 10, 22.—
(b) By litotes, with haud, ne, non (cf.:
supra, mediocris, II. A.): flagitium, et damnum haud mediocriter,Plaut. Merc. 2, 1, 13:
non mediocriter,in no moderate degree, Caes. B. G. 1, 39:
reprehensus est non mediocriter,i. e. greatly, exceedingly, very much, Quint. 11, 1, 17; so id. 8, 2, 2; 9; 11, 1, 57 al.—
(g) Very little:
ne mediocriter quidem disertus,not in the least, Cic. de Or. 1, 20, 91.—
2 With moderation, calmly, tranquilly = modice (rare, and perh. only in Cic.):
quod mihi non mediocriter ferendum videtur,Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 41, § 95.— Comp.:
hoc vellem mediocrius,Cic. Att. 1, 20, 5.