Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

sĕco, cŭi, ctum (part. fut. secaturus, Col. 5, 9, 2), 1, v. a. [root sak-, to cut; whence securis, sĕcula, serra (secra), segmen, sexus, saxum, etc.; cf. sīca, and Gr. κείω, κεάζω, σχίζω], to cut, cut off, cut up (class.; syn.: caedo, scindo).

  1. I. Lit.
    1. A. In gen.: leges duodecim tabularum, si plures forent, quibus rens esset judicatus, secare, si vellent, atque partiri corpus addicti sibi hominis permiserunt, Gell. 20, 1, 48 sq.; cf.: et judicatos in partes secari a creditoribus leges erant, Tert. Apol. 4: cape cultrum, seca Digitum vel aurem, Plaut. Merc. 2, 2, 38 sq.: omne animal secari ac dividi potest, nullum est eorum individuum, Cic. N. D. 3, 12, 29: pabulum secari non posse, be cut, mown, * Caes. B. G. 7, 14; so, sectae herbae, Hor. S. 2, 4, 67: gallinam, to cut to pieces, Juv. 5, 124: placenta, Mart. 3, 77, 3: alicui collum gladio suā dexterā, Q. Cic. Petit. Cons. 3, 10: palatum, to divide, Cels. 8, 1: tergora in frusta, Verg. A. 1, 212: dona auro gravia sectoque elephanto, i. e. of carved, wrought ivory (an imitation of the Homeric πριστὸς ἐλέφας, Od. 18, 196), Verg. A. 3, 464: marmora, Hor. C. 2, 18, 17: sectis nitebat marmoribus, Luc. 10, 114; so absol.: nec ideo ferrum secandi vim non perdidit, Sen. Ben. 5, 5, 1: prave sectus unguis, Hor. Ep. 1, 104: secti lapides, Vulg. Exod. 20, 25.
    2. B. In partic.
      1. 1. Med. t. t., to cut surgically; to operate on; to cut off or out, amputate, excise, etc.: in corpore si quid ejusmodi est, quod reliquo corpori noceat, id uri secarique patimur, Cic. Phil. 8, 5, 15; cf.: saevitia secandi, Plin. 29, 1, 6, § 13; so, membra, id. 26, 11, 69, § 112: vomicam, Plaut. Pers. 2, 5, 13: varices Mario, Cic. Tusc. 2, 15, 35 (for which, exciditur, Cels. 7, 31); cf. of the same: C. Marius cum secaretur, ut supra dixi, principio vetuit se alligari; nec quisquam ante Marium solutus dicitur esse sectus, was cut, operated upon, Cic. Tusc. 2, 22, 53: servum, Just. Inst. 4, 3, 6.
      2. 2. To cut, castrate (very rare): puer avari sectus arte mangonis, Mart. 9, 7, 4; so, sectus Gallus (corresp. to eviratus), id. 5, 41, 3.
    3. C. Transf. (mostly poet. and in post-Aug. prose).
      1. 1. To scratch, tear, wound, hurt, injure (cf. caedo, II.): ambo (postes) ab infimo tarmes secat, the worms are gnawing them, they are wormeaten, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 140: luctantis acuto ne secer ungui, lest I should be torn, Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 47; cf.: rigido sectas invenit ungue genas, Ov. F. 6, 148: teneras plantas tibi (glacies), Verg. E. 10, 49: corpora vepres, id. G. 3, 444: crura (sentes), Ov. M. 1, 509: pete ferro Corpus et intorto verbere terga seca, cut, lacerate, Tib. 1, 9, 22; so, sectus flagellis, Hor. Epod. 4, 11: loris, Mart. 10, 5, 14 al.: si quem podagra secat, gnaws, torments, Cat. 71, 2; imitated by Martial: podagra cheragraque secatur Gaius, Mart. 9, 92, 9.
      2. 2. Like the Gr. τέμνειν, and our to cut, i. e.,
        1. a. To divide, cleave, separate (poet. and in post-Aug. prose): quos (populos) secans interluit Allia, Verg. A. 7, 717: medios Aethiopas (Nilus), Plin. 5, 9, 10, § 53: medios agros (Tiberis), Plin. Ep. 5, 6, 12: medium agmen (Turnus), Verg. A. 10, 440: agrum (limes), Plin. 18, 34, 77, § 331: caelum (zonae), Ov. M. 1, 46: sectus orbis, Hor. C. 3, 27, 75; cf.: in longas orbem qui secuere vias, Ov. Am. 2, 16, 16.
        2. b. With the idea of motion, to cut through, i. e. to run, sail, fly, swim, go, etc., through: delphinum similes, qui per maria umida nando Carpathium Libycumque secant, cut through, cleave, Verg. A.5, 595: aequor, id. ib. 5, 218: pontum, id. ib. 9, 103: aequor Puppe, Ov. M. 11, 479: fretum puppe, id. ib. 7, 1; cf.: vada nota (amnis), id. ib. 1, 370: ales avisgeminis secat aëra pennis, Cic. Arat. 48: aethera pennis (avis), Verg. G. 1, 406; 1, 409: auras (cornus), id. A. 12, 268: ventos (Cyllenia proles), ib. ib. 4, 257: sub nubibus arcum (Iris), id. ib. 9, 15 et saep.
          Secare viam (vias), the Gr. τέμνειν ὁδόν, to take one’s way, to travel a road: ille viam secat ad naves, Verg. A. 6, 899: hinc velut diversae secari coeperunt viae, Quint. 3, 1, 14.
  2. II. Trop. (acc. to I. C. 1. and 2.).
    1. * A. To cut up, lash in speaking, i.e. to censure, satirize: secuit Lucilius Urbem, Pers. 1, 114.
    2. B. To divide (not freq. till after the Aug. per.): cum causas in plura genera secuerunt, Cic. de Or. 2, 27, 117: haec in plures partes, Quint. 8, 6, 13; cf.: scrupulose in partes sectā divisionis diligentiā, id. 4, 5, 6: quae natura singularia sunt secant (corresp. to divido), id. 4, 5, 25: sectae ad tenuitatem suam vires (just before: distinguendo. dividendo), id. 12, 2, 13.
      Hence, in Hor., like dirimo (II.), of disputes, to cut off, i.e. to decide them: quo multae magnaeque secantur judice lites, Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 42: magnas res, to cure (as it were, by a light operation), id. S. 1, 10, 15.
      And once in Verg.: secare spem (the figure borrowed from the phrases secare mare, auras, viam): quae cuique est fortuna hodie, quam quisque secat spem, whatever hope each follows, i. e. indulges in, entertains, Verg. A. 10, 107 (secat, sequitur, tenet, habet; ut: Ille viam secat ad naves, id. ib. 6, 899: unde et sectas dicimus, habitus animorum et instituta philosophiae circa disciplinam, Serv.).

2. secta, ōrum, n. [1. seco, I. B. 1.], parts of the body operated upon: secta recentia, Plin. 31, 11, 47, § 126.

1. sector, ōris, m. [seco], one who cuts or cuts off, a cutter (rare but class.).

  1. I. Lit.: zonarius, a cutpurse, Plaut. Trin. 4, 2, 20: collorum, a cutthroat, Cic. Rosc. Am. 29, 80 (v. II.); so id. ib. 31 fin.: feni, a haycutter, mower, Col. 11, 1, 12.
  2. II. Publicists’ t. t., a bidder, purchaser at a public sale of goods captured or confiscated by the State (cf. quadruplator): sectores vocantur qui publica bona mercantur, Dig. 4, 146: cum de bonis et de caede agatur, testimonium dicturus est is, qui et sector est et sicarius: hoc est, qui et illorum ipsorum bonorum, de quibus agitur, emptor atque possessor est et eum hominem occidendum curavit, de cujus morte quaeritur, Cic. Rosc. Am. 36, 103: sector sis, id. Phil. 2, 26, 65: Pompeii (sc. bonorum), id. ib. 13, 14, 30; Crassus ap. Cic. Fam. 15, 19, 3: ubique hasta et sector, Tac. H. 1, 20: hastae subjecit tabernas, nec sector inventus est, Flor. 2, 6, 48; Pacat. Pan. Theod. 25, 28; Claud. IV. Cons. Hon. 496; cf. Ps.-Ascon. ap. Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 20, § 52, p. 172, and 2, 1, 23, § 61, p. 177 Orell.
    In a double sense, with the signif. I.: nescimus per ista tempora eosdem fere sectores fuisse collorum et bonorum? cutthroats and cutpurses, Cic. Rosc. Am. 29, 80.
    1. * B. Trop.: hinc rapti pretio fasces sectorque favoris Ipse sui populus, seller of his favor, Luc. 1, 178.
  3. III. Geometrical t. t., the sector of a circle, that part of a circle included between any two radii and an arc, Boëth. Art. Geom. p. 379, 13.