ā̆stus
Meaning
- ablativeusually(by) craft, cunning, guile (with a positive or negative connotation)
- plural normallytricks, stratagems
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
dolus callidusChoosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Astutus · Callidus · Vafer · Versutus
Astutus or in old Latin astus (from ἀκή, acuere), and callidus, denote cunning, more in an intellectual sense, as a mark of cleverness; astutus, indeed, acuteness in the invention and execution of a secret project, synonymous with solers; but callidus (from κάλλος), sharp-sightedness in judging of a complicated question of conduct, or worldly wisdom, as the consequence of a knowledge of mankind, and of intercourse with the world, synonymous with rerum peritus, as judicious, and, in its degenerate signification, crafty, like κερδαλέος; on the other hand, vafer and versutus denote cunning in a moral sense, as a mark of dishonesty, and, indeed, vafer (ὑφή), adroitness in introducing tricks, particularly in judicial affairs, as the tricks of a lawyer, like πανοῦργος; versutus (ἀρτυτός), versatility in dissimulation, and in the art of getting out of a scrape by some means or other; in opp. to simplex, Cic. Fin. iv. 25, like στροφαῖος. Plin. Ep. vii. 6. Juvenis ingeniosus, sed parum callidus. Cic. Brut. 48. Callidus, et in capiendo adversario versutus. (iii. 220.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | ā̆stus | ā̆stūs |
| genitive | ā̆stūs | ā̆stuum |
| dative | ā̆stuī | ā̆stibus |
| accusative | ā̆stum | ā̆stūs |
| ablative | ā̆stū | ā̆stibus |
| vocative | ā̆stus | ā̆stūs |
Satin astu et fallendo callet? Att. Trag. Rel. p. 197 Rib.: Nisi ut astu ingenium linguā laudem et dictis lactem lenibus, id. ib. p. 189: nam doli non doli sunt, nisi astu colas, Plaut. Capt. 2, 1, 30: Sed ut astu sum adgressus ad eas! id. Poen. 5, 4, 53; id. Trin. 4, 2, 123; id. Ep. 4, 1, 19; id. Poen. prol. 111: astu providere, Ter. And. 1, 3, 3: astu rem tractare, id. Eun. 5, 4, 2: Consilio versare dolos ingressus et astu, Incipit haec, Verg. A. 11, 704: ille astu subit, id. ib. 10, 522: aliquem astu adgredi, Tac. A. 2, 64: astus belli, Sil. 16, 32: libertae, Tac. A. 14, 2: oratio, quae astu caret, pondero modo et inpulsu proeliatur, Quint. 9, 1, 20.—In plur.: astus hostium in perniciem ipsis vertebat, Tac. A. 2, 20: praeveniens inimicorum astus, id. ib. 6, 44; 12, 45; Petr. 97: Ulixes nectit pectore astus callidos, Sen. Troad. 527: nunc advoca astus, anime, nunc fraudes, dolos, id. ib. 618: ad insidiarum astus, Gell. 11, 18, 17.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
Origins
Of uncertain origin. Suggestions include: * from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd-*sth₂u- (“a standing by”), from *steh₂-, thus formed to astō (“to stand by”) like the verb praestō to the adverb of the same form, with a by-form praestū. In this case the full nominal declension is secondary; * from Ancient Greek ἄστυ (ástu), from the common characterization of city-dwellers as more intelligent, also seen in urbānus; however, in the latter this appears to be a Late Republican development. * from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱst-, Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱ- (“sharp”) - compare Lithuanian aksti̇̀s, Latvian aksts (“prickle, sharp point”), Proto-Celtic *akstīno- (“furze, gorse”). In this case, the Proto-Italic form would be *akstus. A long vowel is once attested for ā̆stūtia, which would be unexpected but paralleled by ācer. Attested since Plautus (second half of the 3d century BCE).