1. mensa — Lewis & Short
mensa, ae,
I f [Sanscr, ma, measure; Gr. me/tron; cf. manus, mane, etc.], a table for any purpose, as a dining-table; a market-stand for meat, vegetables, etc.; a money-dealer's table or counter, a sacrificial table, etc.
I Lit. Of the table itself as a fabrid:
non ferre mensam nisi crebris distinctam venis,Sen. Dial. 3, 35, 5:
mensa inanis nunc si adponatur mihi,Plaut. Pers. 3, 1, 26:
cibos in mensam alicui apponere,id. Men. 1, 3, 29:
surgunt a mensā saturi, poti,id. Ps. 1, 3, 62: ad mensam consistere. to wait at table, Cic. Tusc. 5, 21, 61:
auferre mensam,Plaut. Truc. 2, 4, 14:
apud mensam,at table, id. Trin. 2, 4, 77; Gell. 2, 22, 1; 19, 7, 2:
arae vicem praestare posse mensam dicatam,Macr. S. 3, 11, 5.—
II Transf.
A Food; a table, meal, course: quocum mensam sermonesque suos impertit, Enn. ap. Gell. 12, 4 (Ann. v. 240 Vahl.):
communicabo te semper mensā meā,Plaut. Mil. 1, 1, 51:
ita mensas exstruit,id. Men. 1, 1, 25:
parciore mensā uti,Tac. A. 13, 16:
Italicae Syracusiaeque mensae,Cic. Tusc. 5, 35, 100:
cui Quintus de mensa misit,id. Att. 5, 1, 4; so,
parāsti mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me,Vulg. Psa. 23, 5:
una mensa,at a single meal, Juv. 1, 138: prior, proxima mensa, the first, the second rank at table; the first or second in esteem:
Raeticis uvis prior mensa erat,Plin. 14, 1, 3, § 16; id. 9, 17, 29, § 63: secunda mensa, the second course, the dessert (at which much wine was used), Cels 1, 2:
haec ad te scripsi, appositā secundā mensā,during the dessert, Cic. Att. 14, 6, 2; 14, 21, 4:
Agesilaus coronas secundamque mensam servis dispertiit, Nep Ages. 8, 4: secunda mensa bono stomacho nihil nocet,Cels. 1, 2, fin.:
mensae tempore,meal-time, Juv. 13, 211.—
B The guests at table:
cum primum istorum conduxit mensa choragum,Suet. Aug. 70.—
C A money-changer's counter:
decem minas dum hic solvit, omnis mensas transiit,Plaut. Curc. 5, 3, 4:
mensam poni jubet atque Effundi saccos nummorum,Hor. S. 2, 3, 148:
nummulariorum,Vulg. Matt. 21, 12:
publica,a public bank, Cic. Fl. 19, 44; id. Pis. 36, 88.—
D A butcher's table:
mensa lanionia,butcher's stall, shambles, Suet. Claud. 15.—
E Mensa lusoria, a gaming-table (late Lat.), Aug. Conf. 8, 6.—
F A sacrificial table:
Curiales mensae, in quibus immolabatur Junoni, quae Curis est appellata, Paul. ex Fest. s. v. Curiales, p. 64 Müll.: mensae deorum,Verg. A. 2, 764:
Jovis mensa,Plin. 25, 9, 59, § 105: a small altar:
super tumulum statuere,Cic. Leg. 2, 26, 66.—
G The long flat part, the table, of a military engine (e. g. of a catapult), Vitr. 10, 16.—
H A stand or platform on which slaves were exposed for sale:
servus de mensā paratus,App. M. 8, p. 213; id. Mag. 17, p. 285, 15.