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The corpus record — Latin

saepe

saepe · adv

Often

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 300 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. saepe — Lewis & Short

saepe, adv.old acc. n. of saepis.

I Often, oft, oftentimes, many times, frequently (at indefinite intervals, while crebro denotes in close succession): aperitur ostium, unde saturitate saepe ego exii ebrius, Plaut. Capt. 1, 1, 35: multis damno et mihi lucro saepe eris, id. Cist. 1, 1, 52: audivi saepe hoc vulgo dicier, id. Stich. 1, 3, 13: saepe ex te audivi pater, id. Merc. 2, 3, 40; cf. Cic. Rep. 1, 30, 46: saepe hoc de majoribus natu audivimus, id. ib. 2, 15, 28: cum saepe mecum ageres, ut, etc., id. Lael. 1, 4: sed ... saepe enim redeo ad Scipionem, etc., id. ib. 17, 62; cf. comp.: quocirca ... dicendum est enim saepius, etc., id. ib. 22, 85: licet lascivire, dum nihil metuas, ut in navi ac saepe etiam in morbo levi, id. Rep. 1, 40, 63; so, saepe etiam, id. ib. 1, 17, 26: in hoc statu rei publicae, quem dixi jam saepe non posse esse diuturnum, id. ib. 2, 37: minime saepe, least frequently, Caes. B. G. 1, 1: haud saepe, Plaut. Curc. 1, 2, 33: non saepe, id. Ps. 2, 4, 37: solet jocari saepe mecum illo modo, id. Men. 2, 2, 42; cf. id. ib. 5, 2, 18; so (with solere) Cic. Rep. 3, 5, 9; cf. sup.: de quo (Homero) saepissime vigilans (Ennius) solebat cogitare et loqui, id. ib. 6, 10; id. Lael. 8, 26: vidi ego multa saepe picta, quae Acherunti fierent cruciamenta, Plaut. Capt. 5, 4, 1; so (with multus) id. ib. 2, 2, 78; id. Cas. 2, 5, 41; id. Mil. 3, 3, 12; id. Poen. 1, 1, 1; Cic. Rep. 3, 30, 42; id. Lael. 1, 2; id. Off. 2, 6, 20; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 219; cf.: saepe et multum hoc mecum cogitavi, Cic. Inv. 1, 1, 1: in hac (causā) multum et saepe versatus, id. Quint. 1, 3: quorum saepe et diu ad pedes jacuit stratus, id. ib. 31, 96; Plaut. Cist. 2, 1, 28: nullus (piscis) minus saepe ad terram venit, id. Rud. 4, 3, 56: illos (inimicos) saepe verum dicere, hos (amicos) numquam, Cato ap. Cic. Lael. 24, 90: quod vos nimium saepe dicitis, Cic. Fin. 2, 13, 41: bene saepe, Enn. ap. Gell. 12, 4, 3 (Ann. v. 241 Vahl.): saepe antea (ante), Sall. J. 107, 1; 112, 2.—
(b) Comp.: ibi eos conspicias quam praetorem saepius, Plaut. Poen. 3, 2, 8; cf.: ego saepius quam vellem, Cic. Rep. 1, 38, 59.— More usu. without quam: quod, etsi saepe dictum est, dicendum est tamen saepius, etc., Cic. Off. 3, 17, 69; cf. Caes. ap. Cic. Att. 9, 6, A: semel atque iterum ac saepius, Cic. Font. 12, 26 (16): semel et saepius, id. Inv. 2, 4, 14: bis ac saepius, Quint. 10, 5, 7: iterum et saepius te rogo, Cic. Fam. 13, 42, 2; id. Imp. Pomp. 11, 30: iterum ac saepius, Quint. 12, 8, 8: quo quidem schemate utuntur poëtae saepius, sed ne oratores quidem raro, id. 9, 3, 44: quo magis novi, tanto saepius, Ter. Phorm. 2, 2, 14: propterea saepius te, ut memineris, moneo, Plaut. Capt. 2, 1, 43: ut verbis, quid sit ... definiam saepius, Cic. Rep. 1, 24, 38: quasi ipsos induxi loquentes, ne inquam et inquit saepius interponeretur, id. Lael. 1, 3: quae potestas si mihi saepius sine meo vestroque periculo fiet, utar, id. Phil. 1, 15, 38: si saepius decertandum sit, id. ib. 2, 17, 43.—
(g) Sup.: tibi saepissime Cyathisso, Plaut. Men. 2, 2, 28; id. Ps. 2, 4, 56: optare ut quam saepissime peccet amicus, Cic. Lael. 16, 59: ut vinum aegrotis, qui prodest raro, nocet saepissime, id. N. D. 3, 27, 69: de quo (avo tuo) audisti multa ex me, eaque saepissime, id. Phil. 1, 14, 34.—
II In general propositions stating the results of experience, to denote that which is wont to take place frequently, Plaut. Capt. prol. 44: illud saepe fit, tempestas venit, etc., id. Most. 1, 2, 27; cf.: nam saepe est, quibus in rebus alius ne iratus quidem est, Cum, etc., Ter. Hec. 3, 1, 28: saepe ex hujusmodi re quāpiam ... magna familiaritas Conflatast, id. Eun. 5, 2, 34: non licet hominem esse saepe ita ut volt, id. Heaut. 4, 1, 53: in quo defuit fortasse ratio, sed tamen vincit ipsa rerum publicarum natura saepe rationem, Cic. Rep. 2, 33, 57; repeated: saepe ... saepe, Hor. C. 1, 8, 11; id. Ep. 1, 19, 19; Liv. 23, 15: saepe, five times in succession, Cic. Lael. 10, 33 sq.; cf.: saepe ... persaepe ... saepe ... saepe ... saepe ... modo ... modo, Hor. S. 1, 3, 9: modo ... saepe ... modo ... interdum, id. ib. 1, 10, 11: saepe ... modo, id. ib. 2, 7, 8.—Sup.: bonum consilium subripitur saepissime, si, etc., Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 8.—
III Sometimes with numero, and also joined in one word with it, saepenumero, to strengthen the main idea, like our oftentimes, again and again (perh. not before the class. per.): Aeduos fratres consanguineosque saepenumero a senatu appellatos, Caes. B. G. 1, 33; 1, 39; 1, 40; 6, 8; 7, 62; Cic. de Or. 1, 1, 1; id. Sen. 2, 4; id. Rosc. Am. 24, 67; 41, 119; id. Fam. 16, 21, 3; Sall. C. 52, 7; 53, 3; Auct. B. Afr. 35, 4 al.—Once also in comp.: gigni hominem saepe nono, saepiusnumero decimo mense, Gell. 3, 16, 1.

2. saepe — Walde–Hofmann

saepe ,oft^ (seit Plaut. [saepenumerö seit Cic., saepefätus Greg. M.) saepius, saepissima seit Cic., nicht rom, (in der späteren Volkssprache z. T. durch subinde, frequenter. usw. verdrängt, Wölfflin SB. München 1894, 101, Merland Orib. 163], saepius, saepissimus „öfter, öfterst“ seit Enn., Plt. Persa 633 A (Skutsch BPhW. 1892, 16141, saepiuseule Prisc, vgl. Plt. Cas. 703 saepiculé): Ntr. eines Ad]. *saepis … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. saepe, p. 1367]

In the wild

6 of 3,596 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine Treated in Ernout-Meillet, Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue latine s.v. saepe (scan p. 545; entry #8939).
  • Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. saepe (scan pp. 1367-1368; entry #2365). Root candidates: *abh-, *suaisqo-, *sudiqno-.

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.