meātus

1. Iter and meatus denote the progress which a person makes, the going, the journey, in an abstract sense; iter, that which a rational being makes; meatus, that which a being void of reason and of will makes; via, the path on which a person goes, in a concrete sense. Hor. Od. iii. 2, 22. Virtus negata tentat iter via. Cic. Att. v. 14. Iter conficiebamus æstuosa et pulverulenta via. 2. Iter in a concrete sense, denotes a way which leads directly to a particular point, whether beaten and trodden, or not, like κέλευθος; whereas via (from the old word veha, way), a way, which, if not beaten, is the ordinary and usual way, like ὁδός. Cæs. B. G. vi. 27, means by viarum atque itinerum duces, the guides, who partly point out the frequented roads and paths, partly give information as to where they lead out. 3. Via and iter may be narrow or wide; whereas, trames, callis, and semita, denote only a narrow way or path; trames (τρῆμα) a by-road in a plain and town, by which one may arrive, partly in a shorter time, partly without being so much observed as in the open road, to a given point; semita (from secare, segmen), a foot-path, which often runs by the side of the high-road, like οἶμος; callis (from κέλευθος) a path over a mountain or through a wood, which is scarcely passable except for cattle, like ἀτραπός. Plaut. Cas. iii. 5, 42. De via in semitam degredi; and Liv. xliv. 43. Cic. Phil. xiii. 9, 19. Egressus est non viis, sed tramitibus paludatus; and Rull. ii. 35. Virg. Æn. ix. 383. Rara per occultos lucebat semita calles; and Curt. vii. 11, 2. (iv. 64.)