1. tellūs — Lewis & Short
tellūs (-ŭs short, ūris, f.perh. root tollo, to bear,
Mart. Cap. 5, § 584),I the earth, opp. to the other planets or to the sea, the globe (a word belonging almost entirely to poetry).
I Lit.
A In gen.:
ea, quae est media et nona, tellus, neque movetur et infima,Cic. Rep. 6, 17, 17 (for which:
terra in medio mundo sita,id. Tusc. 1, 17, 40; id. N D. 2, 39, 98 al.;
v. terra): animae vis aut extrinsecus aut ipsā tellure coörta, Lucr 6, 579: telluris operta subire,Verg. A. 6, 140. —
B In partic., earth, land, ground (cf. solum): quāque fuit tellus, illic et pontus et aër;
Sic erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda,Ov. M. 1, 15; cf.: jamque mare et tellus nullum discrimen habebant;
Omnia pontus erant,id. ib. 1, 291:
nec ullis Saucia vomeribus per se dabat omnia tellus,id. ib. 1, 102:
exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat arvis,Verg. G. 1, 99:
reddit ubi Cererem tellus inarata,Hor. Epod. 16, 43:
non presso tellus exsurgit aratro,Tib. 4, 1, 161:
sterilis sine arbore tellus,Ov. M. 8, 789:
fundit humo facilem victum justissima tellus,Verg. G. 2, 460.—
C Personified, Tellus, Earth, as a productive, nourishing divinity: unam eandemque terram habere geminam vim, et masculinam, quod semina producat et femininam, quod recipiat atque enutriat. Inde a vi femininā dictam esse Tellurem, a masculinā Tellumonem, Varr. ap. Aug. Civ. Dei, 7, 23 fin.; cf.:
primum (invocabo), qui omnes fructus agriculturae caelo et terrā continent, Jovem et Tellurem: itaque quod ii parentes magni dicuntur, Juppiter pater appellatur, Tellus, terra mater,id. R. R. 1, 1, 5; and;
si est Ceres a gerendo, terra ipsa dea est: quae enim est alia Tellus?Cic. N. D. 3, 20, 52:
Tellurem porco, Silvanum lacte piabant,Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 143:
aedis Telluris,Cic. Q. Fr. 3, 1, 4, § 14:
in Telluris (sc. aede),id. Att. 16, 14, 1:
Tellus mater,Liv. 10, 29.—
II Transf., a land, country, district, region, territory (poet.;
syn.: regio, terra): Tuscula,Tib. 1, 7, 57:
tellus barbara Scythiae,id. 3, 4, 91; so,
barbara,Ov. M. 7, 53:
Delphica,id. ib. 1, 515:
Aegyptia,id. ib. 5, 323:
Gnosia,Verg. A. 6, 23:
nova,Hor. C. 1, 7, 29:
Jubae,id. ib. 1, 22, 15:
Assaraci,id. Epod. 13, 13 et saep.