vĕtustas — Lewis & Short
vĕtustas, ātis, f.id.,
I old age, age, long existence.
I Lit.
A In gen.:
municipium vetustate antiquissimum,Cic. Phil. 3, 6, 15:
vetustate possessionis se, non jure defendunt,id. Agr. 2, 21, 57:
tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas,Verg. A. 3, 415: tum senior: quamvis obstet mihi tarda vetustas;
Multaque me fugiant, etc., = senectus,Ov. M. 12, 182.—Plur.:
quae familiarnm vetustatibus aut pecuniis ponderantur,Cic. Rep. 1, 31, 47.—
B In partic., ancient times, antiquity:
historia nuntia vetustatis,Cic. de Or. 2, 9, 36:
contra omnia vetustatis exempla,Caes. B. C. 1, 6:
in tantā vetustate non rerum modo sed etiam auctorum,Liv. 2, 21, 4:
vetustatem in majus componens,exaggerating, Sall. H. 3, 60 Dietsch:
judicio vetustatis,Quint. 1, 5, 72:
sic credidit alta vetustas,Sil. 1, 26.—
II Transf.
A Long duration, great age:
quae mihi videntur habitura etiam vetustatem,i.e. will have a long duration, Cic. Att. 14, 9, 2:
scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent,Ov. Tr. 5, 9, 8: vinum in vetustatem servare, till it becomes old, acquires age, Cato, R. R. 114, 2:
terebinthi materies fidelis ad vetustatem,Plin. 13, 6, 12, § 54; Quint. 10, 1, 40; Col. 3, 2, 19; Cels. 3, 14:
conjuncti vetustate, officiis, benevolentiā,i. e. long intimacy, ancient friendship, Cic. Fam. 13, 32, 2; 10, 10, 2; 11, 16, 2; Q. Cic. Pet. Cons. 5, 16.—
B Hence, posterity, the remote future (conceived as a time when this age will have become ancient):
de me semper omnes gentes loquentur, nulla umquam obmutescet vetustas,Cic. Mil. 35, 98:
si qua fidem tanto est operi latura vetustas,Verg. A. 10, 792 Ladew. and Forbig. ad loc.; cf.:
quis hoc credat, nisi sit pro teste vetustas,Ov. M. 1, 400.—
C In medic. lang.:
ulcerum,i. e. inveterate ulcers, Cels. 5, 26, 31; Plin. 21, 19, 74, § 127.