1. vīta — Lewis & Short
vīta, ae (
I gen. sing. vitaï, Lucr. 1, 415; 2, 79; 3, 396), f. vivo; Sanscr. gīv, to live; Gr. bi/os, life, life.
I Lit.
A In gen.:
tribus rebus animantium vita tenetur, cibo, potione, spiritu,Cic. N. D. 2, 54, 134:
dare, adimere vitam alicui,id. Phil. 2, 3, 5:
necessaria praesidia vitae,id. Off. 1, 17, 58:
in liberos vitae necisque potestatem habere,Caes. B. G. 6, 19:
exiguum vitae curriculum,Cic. Rab. Perd. 10, 30:
ego in vitā meā nullā umquam voluptate tantā sum adfectus, etc.,id. Att. 5, 20, 6:
vitam agere honestissime,id. Phil. 9, 7, 15; cf.:
degere miserrimam,id. Sull. 27, 75:
vitam in egestate degere,id. Rosc. Am. 49, 144:
tutiorem vivere,Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 47, § 118:
profundere pro aliquo,id. Phil. 14, 11, 30 fin.:
amittere per summum dedecus,id. Rosc. Am. 11, 30:
auferre alicui,id. Sen. 19, 71:
in vitā manere,id. Fam. 5, 15, 3:
in vitā diutius esse,id. Q. Fr. 1, 3, 5:
e vitā discedere,id. Fam. 2, 2; cf.
cedere,id. Brut. 1, 4:
vitā cedere,id. Tusc. 1, 15, 35:
de vitā decedere,id. Rab. Perd. 11:
vitā se privare,id. de Or. 3, 3, 9:
vitā aliquem expellere,id. Mur. 16, 34:
si vita suppetet,id. Fin. 1, 4, 11: si mihi vita contigerit, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 24, 1:
ne ego hodie tibi bonam vitam feci,a pleasant life, Plaut. Pers. 4, 8, 3:
bonam vitam dare,id. Cas. 4, 4, 21; cf.
, on the other hand: malae taedia vitae,Ov. P. 1, 9, 31.—
B In partic., life, as a period of time = aetas (post-Aug.):
ii quadragensimum annum vitae non excedunt,Plin. 6, 30, 35, § 195; 7, 2, 2, § 30; 7, 49, 50, § 160:
periit anno vitae septimo et quinquagesimo,Suet. Vit. 18:
septem et triginta annos vitae explevit,Tac. A. 2, 88 fin.; Val. Max. 4, 1, 6; 8, 13, ext. 7; Gell. 15, 7, 1; Hier. in Dan. 6, 1.—Plur.:
nec vero, si geometrae et grammatici ... omnem suam vitam in singulis artibus consumpserint, sequitur, ut plures quasdam vitas ad plura discenda desideremus,Quint. 12, 11, 20; cf. also in the foll.—
II Transf.
A A living, support, subsistence (Plautinian;
syn. victus): vitam sibi repperire,Plaut. Stich. 3, 2, 9; cf.:
neque illi concedam quicquam de vitā meā,id. Trin. 2, 4, 76.—
B A life, i. e. a way or mode of life (class.): vita hominis ex ante factis spectabitur, Auct. Her. 2, 3, 4:
vita rustica honestissima atque suavissima,Cic. Rosc. Am. 17, 48:
hanc usus, vita, mores respuit,id. Mur. 35, 74; cf.:
inquirendo in utriusque vitam et mores,Liv. 40, 16, 2; so (with mores) Ov. H. 17, 172 Ruhnk.:
neque ante philosophiam patefactam hac de re communis vita dubitavit,nor was it doubted in common life, Cic. Div. 1, 39, 86:
vita, victusque communis,social life, id. Off. 1, 17, 58; cf.:
omni vitā atque victu excultus,id. Brut. 25, 95.—Plur.:
inspicere, tamquam in speculum, in vitas omnium,Ter. Ad. 3, 3, 61; cf.:
per omnium vitas amicitia serpit,Cic. Leal. 23, 87:
(Minos) vitas et crimina discit,Verg. A. 6, 433. —
C Life, real life (opp. fancy or fiction):
ex quo est illud e vitā ductum ab Afranio,Cic. Tusc. 4, 20, 45:
de vitā hominum mediā sumptum,Gell. 2, 23, 12:
nil sine magno Vita labore dedit mortalibus,Hor. S. 1, 9, 60.—
D Like our life, to denote a very dear object:
certe tu vita es mihi,Plaut. As. 3, 3, 24; cf. Ter. Ad. 3, 2, 33.—Hence, mea vita, or simply vita, my life, as a term of endearment, Plaut. Stich. 4, 2, 6; Cic. Fam. 14, 2, 3; 14, 4, 1; Prop. 1, 2, 1; 2, 20 (3, 13), 17.—
E The living, i. e. mankind, the world; like Gr. bi/os (poet. and in postAug. prose):
rura cano, rurisque deos, his vita magistris Desuevit quernā pellere glande famem,Tib. 2, 1, 37:
agnoscat mores vita legatque suos,Mart. 8, 3, 20:
verum falsumne sit, vita non decrevit,Plin. 8, 16, 19, § 48:
alias in tumultu vita erat,id. 13, 13, 27, § 89.—
F A life, i. e. a course of life, career, as the subject of biography: in hoc exponemus libro de vitā (al. vitam) excellentium imperatorum, Nep. praef. § 8; id. Epam. 4 fin.:
vitae memoriam prosā oratione composuit,Suet. Claud. 1 fin.:
propositā vitae ejus velut summā,id. Aug. 9:
referam nunc interiorem ac familiarem ejus vitam,id. ib. 61; cf. Serv. Verg. A. 1, 368:
qui vitas resque gestas clarorum hominum memoriae mandaverunt,Gell. 1, 3, 1.—
G The duration of life (in plants, etc.), duration:
arborum immensa,Plin. 16, 44, 85, § 234; 16, 44, 90, § 241; Pall. 12, 7, 17.—
H An existence, a being, of spirits in the infernal regions:
tenues sine corpore vitae,Verg. A. 6, 292; cf. id. ib. 12, 952.