ob-lecto — Lewis & Short
ob-lecto, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a.2. lacto,
I to delight, please, divert, entertain, amuse (class.; most freq. with se and mid.; syn. delecto); constr. usually aliquem (aliquid, se), with abl., with cum, with in and abl.
(a) With abl.:
ut quam diutissime te jucundā opinione oblectarem,Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 1, § 1:
cum eorum inventis scriptisque se oblectent,id. Rep. 1, 17, 28:
se agri cultione,id. Sen. 16, 56; Ter. Eun. 1, 2, 115:
aliquem falso gaudio,Plaut. Poen. 5, 4, 102:
Musae me oblectant carmine,Cat. 66, 8.—With an impers. object:
legentium animos fictis oblectare,Tac. H. 2, 50; so,
ironically: paulum praesidii, qui familiarem suam vitam oblectet modo,cheer, comfort, Plaut. Pers. 1, 3, 46:
vitam sordido pane,id. As. 1, 2, 16.—Mid.:
in communibus miseriis hac tamen oblectabar speculā,Cic. Fam. 2, 16, 5:
ludis oblectamur,id. Mur. 19, 39.—
(b) With cum:
oblecta te cum Cicerone quam bellissime,Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 13, 4:
cum his me oblecto, qui res gestas scripserunt,id. de Or. 2, 14, 61; cf.
elliptically: ego me interea cum libellis,id. Att. 12, 3, 1.—
(g) With in:
in eo me oblecto,I delight in him, he is my delight, Ter. Ad. 1, 1, 24:
se in hortis,Cic. Off. 3, 19, 58:
ego me in Cumano et Pompeiano satis commode oblectabam,i. e. amused myself excellently well in Cumanum, id. Q. Fr. 2, 12, 1.—
(d) With acc.:
minime equidem me oblectavi,id. ib. 1, 2, 10:
hortulos emere ubi se oblectare posset,Cic. Off. 3, 14, 58:
ut te oblectes scire cupio,id. Q. Fr. 2, 3, 7:
populum,Hor. A. P. 321.—With an impers. object:
haec studia adulescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant,Cic. Arch. 7, 16; Ter. Phorm. 2, 3, 87:
animos,Ov. R. Am. 169; Tac. H. 2, 50:
animum,Juv. 14, 265.—
II Transf., to spend or pass time agreeably:
studio lacrimabile tempus,Ov. Tr. 5, 12, 1:
iners otium,Tac. A. 12, 49:
inter cenam oblectamus otium temporis,Plin. Ep. 4, 14, 15.—
B Hence, to delay, detain:
ego illum interea hic oblectabo,Plaut. As. 2, 2, 83:
dic mi ubi, Philotis, te oblectāsti tam diu,Ter. Hec. 1, 2, 9.