adverb
mordicus1
mordicus (not comparable)
Classical[ˈmɔr.dɪ.kʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈmɔr.di.kus]
Meaning
- not comparableusing the teeth
Meretrix tantisper blanditur, dum illud quod rapiat videt;
c. 200 BCE, Plautus, Menaechmi 1.3.11–12pullam dēvellere mordicus agnam
tear a black ewe-lamb to pieces with the teethc. 35 BCE, Horatius, Sermones 1.8.27 - figurativelynot comparabletenaciously
rem tenēre mordicus
to hold fast to somethingIta cum ea volunt retinere, quae superiori sententiae conveniunt, in Aristonem incidunt; cum id fugiunt, re eadem defendunt, quae Peripatetici, verba tenent mordicus.
So, when they want to keep those things that fit with the previous statement, they agree with Aristo; when they avoid that, they defend themselves the same way as the Peripatetics, they maintain their words tenaciously.45 BCE, Cicero, De finibus bonorum et malorum 4.28.78
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- mordicus tenere aliquid
- to hold fast in the teeth (also metaphorically, obstinately).
mordĭcus, adv. mordeo,
I. by biting, with bites, with the teeth, ὀδάξ (class.).
I. Lit.:
mordicus arripere, Plaut. Curc. 5, 1, 7: si adbites propius, os denasabit tibi Mordicus, will bite your nose off, id. Capt. 3, 4, 73; cf. id. Men. 1, 3, 12: equus eum mordicus interfecit, Varr. R. R. 2, 7, 9: premere capita mordicus, Cic. N. D. 2, 49, 124: auriculam fortasse mordicus abstulisset, would have bitten off, id. Q. Fr. 3, 4, 2: caudā mordicus apprehensā, Plin. 8, 37, 55, § 132: calcibus feriens et mordicus appetens, App. M. 3, p. 140.—Prov.: mordicus petere aurum e flammā expediat, e ceno cibum, Lucil. ap. Non. 138, 21.—II. Trop.:
rem mordicus tenere, to hold fast to, not give up, Cic. Ac. 2, 16, 51: verba tenent mordicus, id. Fin. 4, 28, 78; Afran. ap. Charis. p. 184 P.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
mordicus adv.
mordeo, by biting, with bites, with the teeth : premere capita: auriculam fortasse abstulisset, would have bitten off : divellere agnam, H.—Fig.: rem tenere, hold fast .
Origins
From mordeō + -icus, not other adverb in -icus is attested.