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The corpus record — Latin

modus

modus

measured amount, size, limit

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 272 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. modus — de Vaan

modus 'measured amount, size, limit' [m. o] (Naev.+) Derivatives: (1) modo 'just, only' (PL+), admodum 'to a great extent, completely' (Naev.+), commodum 'even now, just' (PL+), praemodum 'exceedingly' (Andr.+), — [de Vaan, s.v. modus, p. 398]

2. mŏdus — Lewis & Short

mŏdus, i, m.root med-, measure, weigh; Gr. me/domai, me/dontes, mh/stwr, me/dimnos; cf.: modius, modestus, moderor,

I a measure with which, or according to which, any thing is measured, its size, length, circumference, quantity (freq. and class.).
I Lit.
A In gen.: modi, quibus metirentur rura, Varr. R. R. 1, 10, 1: is modus acnua Latine appellatur, id. ib. 1, 10, 2: filio agri reliquit ei non magnum modum, Plaut. Aul. prol. 13: hoc erat in votis, modus agri non ita magnus, Hor. S. 2, 6, 1: de modo agri scripsit, Cic. Att. 13, 33, 2: de modo agri (actio), cum a venditore emptor deceptus est, Paul. Sent. 1, 19, 1: modus hic agri nostro non sufficit horto, Juv. 14, 172: modus altitudinis et latitudinis (sulcorum), Col. 11, 3, 4: collis modum jugeri continens, Col. Arbor. 1, 6: ut omnium par modus sit, Cels. 3, 27; cf. Col. 12, 23: falsus, false measure, Dig. 11, 6: magnus legionum, Vell. 2, 73, 2: hic mihi conteritur vitae modus, measure or term of life, Prop. 1, 7, 9.—
B In partic.
1 Pregn., a proper measure, due measure: in modo fundi non animadverso lapsi sunt multi, Varr. R. R. 1, 11: suus cuique (rei) modus est, Cic. Or. 22, 73: ordine et modo, id. Off. 1, 5, 14: modum alicujus rei habere, to observe measure in a thing, not exceed the bounds of moderation, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 59, § 144: vox quasi extra modum absona, beyond measure, immoderately, id. de Or. 3, 11, 41: cum lacus praeter modum crevisset, id. Div. 1, 44, 100: ii sine dubio fidem et modum transeunt, id. Off. 1, 29, 102: supra modum in servos suos saevire, Gai. Inst. 1, 53: sine modo modestiāque, without measure, without moderation, Sall. J. 41, 9: sine modo ac modestia agi, Liv. 26, 48, 11.—
2 The measure of tones, measure, rhythm, melody, harmony, time; in poetry, measure, metre, mode: vocum, Cic. Div. 2, 3, 9: musici, Quint. 1, 10, 14: lyrici, Ov. H. 15, 6: fidibus Latinis Thebanos aptare modos, Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 12: Bacchico exsultas (i. e. exsultans) modo, Enn. ap. Charis. p. 214 P. (Trag. v. 152 Vahl.): flebilibus modis concinere, Cic. Tusc. 1, 44, 106: saltare ad tibicinis modos, to the music or sound of the flute, Liv. 7, 2: nectere canoris Eloquium vocale modis, Juv. 7, 19.—Fig.: verae numerosque modosque ediscere vitae, moral harmonies, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 144.—
II Transf.
A A measure which is not to be exceeded, a bound, limit, end, restriction, etc.: modus muliebris nullust, neque umquam lavando et fricando modum scimus facere, Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 21: quis modus tibi tandem exilio eveniet, id. Merc. 3, 4, 67: modum aliquem et finem orationi facere, to set bounds to, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 48, § 118: ludendi est quidem modus retinendus, id. Off. 1, 29, 104: imponere alicui, Liv. 4, 24, 4: cum modum irae nullum faceret, id. 4, 50, 4: modum transire, Cic. Tusc. 4, 17, 4: cupidinibus statuat natura modum quem, Hor. S. 1, 2, 111: inimicitiarum modum facere, Cic. Sull. 17, 48: modum statuarum haberi nullum placet, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 59, § 144: qui rebus infinitis modum constituant, id. Fin. 1, 1, 2: constituere, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 59, § 145: modus vitae, tou= bi/ou te/los, Prop. 1, 7, 9. —With gen. gerund.: modum lugendi aliquando facere, to make an end of mourning, Cic. Fam. 5, 16, 6.—Poet. with inf.: nam quis erit saevire modus? Stat. Th. 12, 573; cf. the foll.—
B A way, manner, mode, method: modus est, in quo quem ad modum, et quo animo factum sit, quaeritur, Ejus partes sunt prudentia, et imprudentia, Cic. Inv. 1, 27, 41: nullum modum esse hominis occidendi quo ille non aliquot occiderit, id. Rosc. Am. 35, 100: nec enim semper (hae partes) tractantur uno modo, id. Or. 35, 122: vitae, way of life, id. Tusc. 5, 23, 66: caelestium ordinem ... imitari vitae modo, id. Sen. 21, 77: quibus modis, by what method of acting, i. e. what means, Sall. C. 5, 6: cultores has Alpis modo tuto transmittere, Liv. 21, 30, 8.—Poet. with inf.: nec modus inserere atque oculos imponere simplex, Verg. G. 2, 73.—
2 Esp. freq.: modo, in modum, or ad modum, with a gen. or adj., in the manner of, like: servorum modo, in the manner of, like slaves, Liv. 39, 26: pecorum modo trahi, Tac. A. 4, 25: in modum ramorum, Col. Arbor. 22: in nostrum modum, in our manner, Tac. H. 3, 25: servilem in modum cruciari, like slaves, Cic. Verr. 1, 5, 13; Caes. B. G. 6, 19, 3; Suet. Calig. 56: mirum in modum, in a wonderful manner, wonderfully, Caes. B. G. 1, 41: ad hunc modum distributis legionibus, in this manner, id. ib. 5, 24: naves ad hunc modum factae, id. ib. 3, 13: nos nostras more nostro et modo instruximus legiones, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 66: non tuo hoc fiet modo, id. Men. 2, 1, 25: si humano modo, si usitato more peccāsset, after the manner of men, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 3, § 8; cf.: Carneadeo more et modo disputata, id. Univ. 1; for which with gen.: apis Matinae More modoque, Hor. C. 4, 2, 28; and: agendi more ac modo, Quint. 11, 1, 29: tali modo, in such a manner, in such wise, Nep. Att. 21, 1: nullo modo, in no wise, by no means, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 76, § 186: omni modo egi cum rege et ago cotidie, in every way, earnestly, urgently, id. Att. 6, 2, 7: omnibus modis tibi esse rem salvam ut scias, Plaut. Ps. 4, 6, 13: omnibus modis miser sum, every way, wholly, completely, Ter. Hec. 4, 4, 79: miris modis, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 3, § 9; Liv. 1, 57, 6; Hor. C. 2, 17, 21: mille modis amor ignorandust, Plaut. Trin. 2, 1, 30: hoc multis modis reprehendi potest, Cic. Fin. 2, 26, 82 (v. Madv. ad h. l.); so, filium multis modis jam exspecto, ut redeat domum, very much, Ter. Hec. 2, 3, 7; cf. multimodis: mira miris modis, Plaut. Cas. 3, 5, 5; cf. mirimodis: eum tibi commendo in majorem modum, very much, greatly, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 12 (14), 3: nullo modo, id. Fin. 2, 31, 102; Col. 9, 8; Suet. Tit. 2: bono modo, moderately, Cato, R. R. 5: bono modo desiderare aliquid, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 6, 3: ejus modi, of that kind, of such a kind or sort (freq.): ejusmodi sunt tempestates consecutae, ut, Caes. B. G. 3, 29, 2: in ejusmodi casu, id. ib. 5, 33, 4; 6, 34, 7: erant ejusmodi fere situs oppidorum, ut, id. ib. 3, 12, 1: petitionis nostrae hujusmodi ratio est, Cic. Att. 1, 1, 1; so, cujusquemodi, cujusdammodi, cujusmodicumque, cuimodi, cuicuimodi, v. Zumpt, § 678: cujusmodi, of what sort, Cic. Fam. 15, 20, 3: cujuscemodi, of what sort soever, id. Inv. 2, 45, 134: hujusmodi, hujuscemodi, of this kind, such: hujusmodi casus, Caes. B. C. 2, 22: hujuscemodi verba, Sall. J. 9 fin.: illiusmodi, of that kind, Cic. Div. in Caecil. 21, 68; so, istiusmodi amicos, Plaut. Rud. 2, 2, 15.—
3 In gram., a form of a verb, a voice or mood: in verbo fiunt soloecismi per genera, tempora, personas, modos, etc., Quint. 1, 5, 41: patiendi modus (the passive voice) ... faciendi modus (the active voice), id. 9, 3, 7; cf. 1, 6, 26.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. modus (scan p. 398; entry #1069).
  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. modus (scan p. 432; entry #6965).

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.