noun · femininethird declension
līs
līs f (genitive lītis)
Classical[ˈliːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈlis]
Meaning
- lawsuit, action
TH[eopropides:] Maxime, accipito hanc ad te litem.
c. 200 BCE, Plautus, Mostellaria 5.2.23Fundus a patre relinqui potest, at usucapio fundi, hoc est finis sollicitudinis ac periculi litium, non a patre relinquitur, sed a legibus;
Translation by Charles Duke Yonge A farm can be left me by my father, but the enjoyment of the farm—that is to say, freedom from all anxiety and danger of law-suits—is not left to me by my father, but by the laws.69 BCE, Cicero, Pro Caecina 26.74 - contention, strife, quarrel
Hanc deus et melior lītem nātūra dirēmit.
1916 translation by Frank Justus Miller God—or kindlier Nature—composed this strife;8 CE, Ovidius, Metamorphoses 1.21līte vacent aurēs, īnsānaque prōtinus absint / iūrgia; differ opus, līvida lingua, tuum!
1851 translation by Henry T. Riley Let our ears be relieved from strife, and forthwith let maddening discords he far away; and thou envious tongue, postpone thy occupation.8 CE, Ovidius, Fasti 1.29–30
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
pugna, contrōversialīs lītis (f) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 1, 12
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | līs | lītēs |
| genitive | lītis | lītium lītum |
| dative | lītī | lītibus |
| accusative | lītem | lītēs lītīs |
| ablative | līte | lītibus |
| vocative | līs | lītēs |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- litem alicui intendere
- to go to law with, sue a person.
- causam or litem obtinere
- to win a case.
- calumniae litium (Mil. 27. 74)
- chicanery (specially of wrongfully accusing an innocent man).
- causam or litem amittere, perdere
- to lose one's case.
- lites componere (Verg. Ecl. 3. 108)
- to arrange a dispute (by arbitration).
- adhuc sub iudice lis est (Hor. A. P. 77)
- the case is still undecided.
- causā or lite cadere (owing to some informality)
- to lose one's case.
līs, lītis (old form stlis, stlitis, like stlocus for locus; cf. Quint. 1, 4, 16), f. root star-, in sterno; cf. Germ. streiten, to contend,
I. a strife, dispute, quarrel.
I. In gen.:
si quis pugnam expectat, litis contrahat, Plaut. Capt. prol. 63: philosophi aetatem in litibus conterunt, Cic. Leg. 1, 20, 53: grammatici certant et adhuc sub judice lis est, Hor. A. P. 78: morsus litibus alternis dati, Prop. 4 (5), 5, 39. semper habet lites alternaque jurgia lectus In quo nupta jacet, Juv. 6, 268.—Transf., of inanimate things: lis est cum formā magna pudicitiae, Ov. H. 16, 288; id. F. 1, 107.— II. In partic.
A. A charge, an accusation:
accipito hanc tute ad te litem ... Fac ego ne metuam mihi, atque ut tu meam timeas vicem, Plaut. Most. 5, 2, 23. —B. A lawsuit, an action or process at law:
nam mihi tris hodie litis judicandas dicito, Plaut. Merc. 2, 2, 10: hodie juris coctiores non sunt, qui litis creant, Quam sunt hice, qui, si nihil est litium, litis serunt, id. Poen. 3, 2, 9 sq.; Cic. de Or. 3, 28, 109: repetere ac persequi lite atque judicio aliquid, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 13, § 32: litem alicui intendere, id. de Or. 1, 10, 42: in inferendis litibus, id. Rab. Post. 4, 10: contestari, id. Att. 16, 15, 2: obtinere aut amittere, id. Rosc. Com. 4, 10: orare, id. Off. 3. 10, 43: sedare, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 57, § 132: secare, Hor. Ep. 1, 16, 42: perdere, Gai. Inst. 4, 30: in litibus aestimandis, in suits for damages, Cic. Clu. 41, 116; id. Rab. Post. 4, 9: lis capitis, a prosecution involving life, a capital charge, id. Clu. 41, 116: aestimationem litium non esse judicium, an appraisal of damages, id. ib.; cf. id. Rab. Post. 5, 11: cum in eum litis aestimares, id. ib. 5, 12: quod vulgo dicitur, e lege Julia litem anno et sex mensibus mori, Gai. Inst. 4, 104.— 2. In the phrase: litem suam facere, to make the cause his own, said,
(a). Litem suam facere, of an advocate who neglects the cause of his client and seeks his own advantage:
quid, si cum pro altero dicas, litem tuam facias? Cic. de Or. 2, 75, 305.— (b). Also of a judge who, out of favor or through bribery, pronounces an unjust sentence, or who turns aside from the questions strictly before him to express his own opinions or feelings through the judgment: debet enim judex attendere, ut cum certae pecuniae condemnatio posita sit, neque majoris neque minoris summa petita nummo condemnet, alioquin litem suam facit;
item si taxatio posita sit, ne pluris condemnet quam taxatum sit, alias enim similiter litem suam facit, Gai. Inst. 2, 52: si judex litem suam fecerit, Dig. 44, 7, 4, § 4; cf. ib. 5, 1, 15; so, trop.: nam et Varro satis aperte, quid dicere oporteret, edocuit; et ego adversus eum, qui doctus esse dicebatur, litem meam facere absens nolui, Gell. 10, 1.—(g). Also of a judge who does not appear on the day appointed: inde ad comitium vadunt, ne litem suam faciant, C. Titius ap. Macr. S. 2, 12.—
C. The subject of an action at law, the matter in dispute:
quibus res erat in controversia, ea vocabatur lis, Varr. L. L. 7, § 93 Müll.: illud mihi mirum videri solet, tot homines statuere non potuisse, utrum rem an litem dici oporteret, Cic. Mur. 12, 27: lites severe aestimatae, id. ib. 20, 42: quo minus secundum eas tabulas lis detur, non recusamus, id. Rosc. Com. 1, 3: de tota lite pactionem facere, id. ib. 14, 40: in suam rem litem vertere, Liv. 3, 72: litem lite resolvere, to explain one obscure thing by another equally so, Hor. S. 2, 3, 103.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
līs lītis (old form stlīs, stlītis), f
a strife, dispute, quarrel, altercation: Lites inter eos maxumae, T.: aetatem in litibus conterunt: adhuc sub iudice lis est, H.: inter vos componere lites, V.: de terrae nomine, O.: exemplum litem quod lite resolvit, solves a difficulty by raising another, H.— In law, a suit, action, process, litigation, controversy: Litīs sequi, T.: in inferendis litibus: litem contestari: orare: secare, H.: arbitri, qui litem aestument, assess damages, Cs.: aestimatio litium: in litibus aestimandis, suits for damages: lis capitis, a capital charge: litem tuam facere, i. e. plead for yourself.—The subject of an action, matter in dispute: quanta summa litium fuisset: lites severe aestimatae: quo minus secundum eas tabulas lis detur, non recusamus: in suam rem litem vertere, L.: interceptor aliaenae litis, L.
Origins
From Old Latin stlīs, slīs, perhaps with unusual reduction from Proto-Italic *slītis (“accusation, dispute”), from Proto-Indo-European *sliH-ti-, possibly from a root Proto-Indo-European *(s)leyH- (“to accuse”); cognate with Old Irish liid (“accuse, charge”).
Descendants
- Italianlite
- Portugueselide
- Spanishlid
- Galicianlide
- Sicilianliti