adjectivethird-declension one-termination adjective
āles1
āles (genitive ālitis)
Classical[ˈaː.ɫɛs]Ecclesiastical[ˈaː.les]
Meaning
- one terminationwinged
- one terminationaerial
- one terminationquick, fleet, rapid, swift
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
avisāles -itis (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 15, 17
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Volucres · Aves · Alites
Volucres (from ἑλίξαι) means whatever flies, including winged insects, like πτηνός; whereas aves and alites mean only birds; avis (ἀετός) as a general term in natural history for any bird, like ὄρνις; ales (from ala) as a select expression only for a larger bird, like οἰωνός, especially the eagle, and alites is used in the language of the augurs as a technical term for those birds whose flight must be observed and interpreted, in opp. to oscines, or those birds whose song and cry must be interpreted. Ovid, Art. Am. iii. 410. Jovis in multis devolat ales aves. Hor. Od. iv. 2, 2. 4. Virg. Æn. xii. 247. Cic. N. D. ii. 64. (v. 207.)
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | āles | āles | āles |
| genitive | ālitis | ālitis | ālitis |
| dative | ālitī | ālitī | ālitī |
| accusative | ālitem | ālitem | āles |
| ablative | ālitī ālite | ālitī ālite | ālitī ālite |
| vocative | āles | āles | āles |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ālitēs | ālitēs | — |
| genitive | ālitum ālitium | ālitum ālitium | ālitum ālitium |
| dative | ālitibus | ālitibus | ālitibus |
| accusative | ālitīs ālitēs | ālitīs ālitēs | — |
| ablative | ālitibus | ālitibus | ālitibus |
| vocative | ālitēs | ālitēs | — |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- aves (alites, oscines) addīcunt alicui (opp. abdicunt aliquid)
- the omens are favourable to some one.
ālĕs, ālĭtĭs (abl. aliti, Sen. Med. 1014;
I. gen. plur. alitum, Mart. 13, 6, and lengthened alituum, Lucr. 2, 928; 5, 801; 1039; 1078; 6, 1216; Verg. A. 8, 27; Stat. S. 1, 2, 184; Manil. 5, 370; Amm. 19, 2) [ala-ire, as comes, eques, etc., acc. to some; but cf. Corss. Ausspr. II. p. 209], adj. and subst. (poet. and post-Aug. prose).
I. Adj., winged: angues, Pac. ap. Cic. Inv. 1, 19; cf. Mos. Cic. Rep. 3, 9:
ales avis, Cic. N. D. 2, 44 (as transl. of the Gr. αἰόλος ὄρνις, Arat. Phaen. 275): equus, i. e. Pegasus, Ov. Am. 3, 12, 24: deus, Mercury, id. M. 2, 714; so also Stat. Th. 4, 605: currus, Sen. Med. 1024: fama, Claud. I. Cons. Stil. 2, 408.—And with a trope common in all languages, quick, fleet, rapid, swift: rutili tris ignis et alitis Austri, Verg. A. 8, 430: passus, Ov. M. 10, 587: harundo, the swift arrow, Prud. Psych. 323.—II. Subst. com. gen., a fowl, a bird (only of large birds, while volucris includes also insects that fly).
A. Com. gen.:
pennis delata, Lucr. 6, 822: exterrita pennis, id. 5, 506: argentea, i. e. the raven before its metamorphosis, Ov. M. 2, 536: superba, the peacock, Mart. 14, 67; 9, 56: longaeva, the phœnix, Claud. 35, 83: famelica, the pigeon-hawk, Plin. 10, 10, 12, § 28.—On the contr., masc.: Phoebeïus, the raven, Ov. M. 2, 544: albus, the swan, Hor. C. 2, 20, 10: cristatus, the cock, Ov. F. 1, 455 al. —B. Fem., as referring to a female bird:
Daulias ales = philomela, Ov. H. 15, 154: exterrita = columba, Verg. A. 5, 505. But ales, i.e. aquila, as the bird of Jove, is sometimes masc.: fulvus Jovis ales, the eagle, id. ib. 12, 247; called also: minister fulminis, Hor. C. 4, 4, 1: flammiger, Stat. Th. 8, 675. —Also fem.: aetheriā lapsa plagā Jovis ales, Verg. A. 1, 394: regia ales, Ov. M. 4, 362: ales digna Jove, Manil. 1, 443.—C. For a deity as winged, masc.:
Cyllenius ales, i.e. Mercury, Claud. 33, 77; or even for men: aureus ales, Perseus, Stat. Th. 1, 544.—D. Ales canorus, a swan, for a poet, Hor. C. 2, 20, 15. —Also absol. ales: Maeonii carminis ales, of the singer of a Mæonian (Homeric) song, Hor. C. 1, 6, 2 Jahn. (In Ov. M. 5, 298, if ales erant is read, ales is collect.; cf. Schneid. Gr. 2, 240; but the sing. seems to be more in accordance with the preceding hominem putat locutum, she supposing that she heard a man, but it was a bird, and Merkel here reads Ales erat.)—
E. In the lang. of augury, alites are birds that gave omens by their flight, as the buteo, sanqualis, aquila, etc. (but oscines, by their voice, as the corvus, cornix, and noctua), Fest. p. 193 (cf. id. p. 3); Cic. N. D. 2, 64, 160:
tum huc, tum illuc volent alites: tum a dextrā, tum a sinistrā parte canant oscines, id. Div. 1, 53, 120; cf. Manut. ad Cic. Fam. 6, 6, p. 394; Plin. 10, 19, 22, § 43; Arn. adv. G. 7, 59.—Hence, poet.: ales, augury, omen, sign: cum bonā nubit alite, Cat. 61, 20: malā soluta navis exit alite, Hor. Epod. 10, 1: secundā alite, id. ib. 16, 23.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
āles ālitis, gen plur. ālitum, and poet. ālituum, adj. and subst.
ala.
I. I. Adj, winged: avis: deus, i. e. Mercury, O.: minister fulminis (i. e. aquila), H.: (Venus) purpureis ales oloribus, borne on the wings of bright swans, H. — Quick, hasty, rapid, swift: rutili tres ignis et alitis Austri, V.: passus, O.—
II. II. Subst m. and f a bird: fulvus Iovis, i. e. aquila, V.: Phoebeïus, the raven, O.: albus, the swan, H.: Aetheriā lapsa plagā Iovis ales, V.: regia, O.—Esp., in augury, alites are birds whose flight is significant (cf. oscen, a bird whose song is regarded in augury). — Hence, augury, omen, sign: lugubris, H.: potiore alite, H.—Ales canorus, a swan (of a poet), H.: Maeonii carminis, i. e. the singer of a Maeonian (Homeric) song, H.
Origins
From āla (“wing”) + -es (“-faring”), from eō (“to fare, go”). Compare pedes, eques, caeles.