adjectivethird-declension one-termination adjective
hebes
hebes (genitive hebetis, comparative hebetior, superlative hebetissimus)
Classical[ˈhɛ.bɛs]Ecclesiastical[ˈɛː.bes]
Meaning
- one terminationblunt, dull, not sharp or pointed
ARTOTRŌGUS. Quid in Cappadociā, ubi tū quīngentōs simul, nī hebes machaera foret, ūnō ictū occīderās? PYRGOPOLINĪCĒS. At peditastellī quia erant, sīvī vīverent.
fifty with a single blow, were the sword not blunt? PYRGOPOLINICES. But because they were foot-soldiers, I suffered them to live.c. 206 BCE, Plautus, Miles Gloriosus 1.1.52–54Tum fuit in pretiō magis aes, aurumque iacēbat propter inūtilitātem hebetī mūcrōne retūsum; nunc iacet aes, aurum in summum successit honōrem. Then was bronze more of worth, and gold was held in no esteem for it uselessness, dull with blunt edge; now bronze is in disgrace, and gold has climbed to the highest honour. c. 95 CE, Quintilianus, Institutio oratoria 2.12.8 (substantivized):
Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that learning takes away something, just as a file does to rough things or whetstones to blunt thingsc. 99 BCE – 55 BCE, Lucretius, De rerum natura 5.1273–1275 - one terminationdim, faint, dull; tasteless, without smell, without sensation
Hōc sonitū opplētae aurēs hominum obsurduērunt; nec est ūllus hebetior sēnsus in vōbīs, sīcut, ubi Nīlus ad illa, quae Catadūpa nōminantur, praecipitat ex altissimīs montibus, ea gēns, quae illum locum adcolit, propter magnitūdinem sonitūs sēnsū audiendī caret.
Filled with this sound, the ears of humans become deaf, just as, where the Nile rushes down from the highest mountains to those which are called Catadupa, that folk which inhabits that place lacks the sense of hearing because of the magnitude of the sound.54 BCE – 51 BCE, Cicero, De re publica 6.18Īnfēlīx, cui torpet hebes locus ille, puella,
Unhappy girl, whose place unfeeling lays, which man and woman should equally enjoy.2 CE, Ovidius, Ars Amatoria 3.799–800 - figurativelyone terminationdull, obtuse, sluggish, heavy, stupid; slow, tardy
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | hebes | hebes | hebes |
| genitive | hebetis | hebetis | hebetis |
| dative | hebetī | hebetī | hebetī |
| accusative | hebetem | hebetem | hebes |
| ablative | hebetī hebete | hebetī hebete | hebetī hebete |
| vocative | hebes | hebes | hebes |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | hebetēs | hebetēs | hebetia |
| genitive | hebetium | hebetium | hebetium |
| dative | hebetibus | hebetibus | hebetibus |
| accusative | hebetīs hebetēs | hebetīs hebetēs | hebetia |
| ablative | hebetibus | hebetibus | hebetibus |
| vocative | hebetēs | hebetēs | hebetia |
hĕbes, ĕtis (
I. acc. sing. hebem, Enn. and Caecil. ap. Charis. p. 107 P.; abl. hebeti;
but hebete, Cels. 7, 3), adj. hebeo, blunt, dull, in opp. to pointed or sharp (class.; esp. freq. in the trop. sense). I. Lit.: cujus (lunae) et nascentis et insenescentis alias hebetiora alias acutiora videntur cornua, Cic. Fragm. ap. Non. 122, 1:
tela leviora atque hebetiora, id. Har. Resp. 1, 2: quo latiora (ossa) quaque parte sunt, hoc hebetiora, Cels. 8, 1, 66: ponite jam gladios hebetes, pugnetur acutis, Ov. A. A. 3, 589: machaera, Plaut. Mil. 1, 1, 53; cf.: hebeti mucrone, Lucr. 5, 1274, and hebeti ictu, which does not penetrate, Ov. M. 12, 85: oryx hebeti ferro caeditur, Juv. 11, 140: secures, id. 8, 137: angulus, obtuse, Front. de Form. Agr. p. 32 Goes.—As subst.: hĕbĕtĭa, ium, n., blunt tools, Quint. 2, 12, 18.—B. Transf., of sight, hearing, smell, taste, dull, dim, faint:
utroque oculo natura hebete, Plin. 9, 15, 20: color, Ov. F. 5, 365; cf.: (orbem solis) adhuc hebetem vicina nocte, Stat. Ach. 2, 289: carbunculi hebetiores, Plin. 37, 7, 26, § 98: postea quam sensi populi Romani aures hebetiores, oculos autem esse acres atque acutos, Cic. Planc. 27, 66; cf. id. Rep. 6, 18: uva gustu hebes, tasteless, insipid, Col. 3, 2, 24: genus croci, without smell (opp. odoratum), Plin. 21, 11, 39, § 67: os hebes est, positaeque movent fastidia mensae, without appetite, Ov. P. 1, 10, 7: caro, without feeling, dead, Cels. 7, 6, 8; 7, 13, 1: ossa gingivarum, id. 6, 15, 17: qui torpet hebes locus ille, Ov. A. A. 3, 799. —II. Trop., dull, obtuse, sluggish, heavy, doltish, stupid (syn.:
bardus, stupidus, ineptus, absurdus, stultus, fatuus, stolidus, brutus, etc.): sensus omnes hebetes et tardos esse arbitrabantur, Cic. Ac. 1, 8, 31: puer incessu tardus, sensu hebes, Plin. 7, 16, 17, § 76: tanta solertia animalium hebetissimis quoque est, id. 9, 30, 48: Epicurus, quem hebetem et rudem dicere solent Stoici, Cic. Div. 2, 50, 103; cf.: omnium ceterarum rerum oratio ludus est homini non hebeti neque inexercitato neque communium litterarum et politioris humanitatis experti, id. de Or. 2, 17, 71: memoria, id. ib. 2, 87, 357: me hebetem molestiae reddiderunt, id. Att. 9, 17, 2: nisi qui sit plane hebes, Quint. 7, 1, 48: nisi forte tam hebes futurus est judex, ut, etc., id. 4, 2, 66: hebes ad aliquid, Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 13, 1; cf.: quis adeo hebes inveniretur, ut crederet? etc., Tac. A. 14, 11: exercitus hebes infirmusque, raw, undisciplined,=rudis, Sall. J. 54, 3: hebes ad sustinendum laborem miles, sluggish, slow, tardy, Tac. H. 2, 99; Ov. M. 13, 135: adulescentia bruta et hebes, Sen. Ben. 3, 37, 3: spondeus quod est e longis duabus, hebetior videtur et tardior, Cic. Or. 64, 216: sed hac rhetorica philosophorum, non nostra illa forensi, quam necesse est, cum populariter loquatur, esse interdum paulo hebetiorem, i. e. more superficial, common (opp. to philosophical acuteness, nicety), id. Fin. 2, 6, 17: dolor, id. Att. 8, 3, 4: hoc Pansa aut non videt (hebeti enim ingenio est) aut negligit, id. Phil. 10, 8, 17; cf.: hebetiora hominum ingenia, id. N. D. 2, 6, 17: ratio, Plin. 2, 47, 46, § 119: quaedam hebes, sordida, jejuna oratio, Quint. 8, 3, 49: quasdam (litteras) velut acriores parum efficimus et aliis non dissimilibus sed quasi hebetioribus permutamus, id. 1, 11, 4.—Of a speaker: hebes lingua, magis malus quam callidus ingenio, Ps.-Sall. de Rep. 2, 9, 1.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
hebes etis, adj.
with comp, blunt, dull: tela hebetiora: ictus, O.: ferrum, Iu.—Dull, dim, faint: aures hebetiores: color, O.—Fig., dull, obtuse, sluggish, heavy, doltish, stupid<*> sensūs: homo: memoria: dolor: exercitus, S.: ad sustinendum laborem miles, Ta.: spondeus hebetior: ingenio hebeti esse: hebetiora ingenia.
Origins
From hebeō (“to be blunt or dull”) with a suffix -t- that can also be found in -es (“faring”).
Descendants
- Englishhebete
- Frenchhébété
- Italianebete
- Sicilianèviti
- Sicilianèbbiti