cavillātiō

Lepos, facetiæ, and festivitas, denote the harmless wit, which, like humor, is only opposed to seriousness, and is the attribute of a benevolent mind; lepos (from λέπω, λεπτός,) the lightest wit, in opp. to dull gravity; festivitas (from σπαθᾶν) the more cheerful sort of wit, in opp. to gloomy seriousness; facetiæ, the jocund wit, in opp. to sober seriousness; whereas sales, dicacitas, and cavillatio, denote the more pungent wit, which is a sign of an acute intellect; sales (ἅλες) the piquant wit, in opp. to what is flat and trivial, which aims at a point, whether others may be pleasantly or painfully affected by it; dicacitas (from δακεῖν) the satirical wit, which is exercised at the cost of others, yet so that the jest is still the principal aim,—the pain inflicted, only an accidental adjunct; cavillatio, the scoffing wit, in which the mortification of others is the principal aim, the jest only a means and unimportant form. Cic. Orat. 30. Demosthenes non tam dicax fuit, quam facetus. Est autem illud acrioris ingenii, hoc majoris artis. (v. 21).