ŏpĭfex — Lewis & Short
ŏpĭfex, ĭcis, comm.opus-facio, one who does a work.
I Lit., a worker, maker, framer, fabricator (class.; cf.: faber, artifex. operarius).
A In gen.:
opifex aedificatorque mundi deus,Cic. N. D. 1, 8, 18:
rerum or aeternus,Col. 3, 10, 10; cf.:
opifex natura,Plin. 31, 1, 1, § 1:
calor,Lact. 2, 9, 22:
sylvestres apes,Varr. R. R. 3, 16.—
B In partic., a workman, mechanic, artist, artisan, etc.:
opifices omnes in sordidā arte versantur,Cic. Off. 1, 42, 150; cf. id. N. D. 2, 60, 150; id. Fl. 8, 18; id. Rep. 1, 22, 35:
opifices atque servitia,Sall. C. 50, 1:
hoc (instrumento) ego non artem credo egere, sed artificem,Quint. 2, 21, 24.—
II Trop.:
verborum,Cic. Tusc. 5, 12, 34: dicens esse rhetoricen persuadendi opificem, id est peiqou=s dhmiourgo/n, Quint. 2, 15, 4.— Poet. with inf.:
mire opifex ... marem strepitum fidis intendisse Latinae,Pers. 6, 3.