adverb
ōlim
ōlim (not comparable)
Classical[ˈoː.lĩː]Ecclesiastical[ˈɔː.lim]
№ 574 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- not comparableformerly, in time past, some time ago
Dixerat 'O mores! O tempora!' Tullius olim, sacrilegum strueret cum Catilina nefas,
Cicero once said, "Oh, the manners! Oh, the times!", When prosecuting Catiline of a sacrilegious crime,86-103 AD, Martial, Epigrammata, IX.70:Princeps quoque et locum incunabulorum assidue frequentavit, manente villa qualis fuerat olim
Even after [Vespasian] became emperor, he used constantly to visit the home of his infancy, where the manor-house was kept as it once was.121 AD, Suetonius, De Vita Caesarum, Divus Vespasianus, 2: - not comparableonce upon a time
- not comparablepoeticone day, once, at some (future) time
Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit
Someday, perhaps, remembering even this will be a pleasure.19 BC, Vergil, Aeneid, I.203: - not comparableoften, for some time
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
tempore antīquō; etiam: tempore futūrō.ōlim adv. — in Mille Verba, Tempus et Numerī
iam diūōlim (hōc locō) — in Epistulae, ch. 3
quondam, longē anteōlim — in Metamorphoses I, †
long ago
ōlim — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 10, 20
ōlim, adv. ole, olle, ollus or olus, archaic for ille, with locative ending -im, = illo tempore, v. Brix ad Plaut. Trin. 523, lit.,
I. at that (sc. remote) time; hence,
I. Of past time, some time ago, once upon a time, once, formerly, in time past, whilom, erst (freq. and class.; syn. quondam): versibu' quos olim Fauni vatesque canebant, Enn. ap. Cic. Brut. 19, 76 (Ann. v. 222 Vahl.):
ut fuit olim Sisyphus, Hor. S. 1, 3, 46: sic enim olim loquebantur, Cic. de Or. 2, 43, 183: olim, vel nuper, id. Div. 2, 25, 55; so corresp. to hoc tempore, id. Fam. 7, 24, 1: olim...mox, Tac. H. 1, 67: ut erant olim, Cic. Att. 12, 39, 2; cf.: alium esse censes nunc me, atque olim, Ter. And. 3, 3, 13; Cic. Fam. 15, 20, 2: gens olim armis, mox memoriā nominis clara, Tac. H. 7, 67: fuit olim senex: ei filiae Duae erant, there was once an old man, Plaut. Stich. 4, 1, 33.—B. Transf.
1. From the meaning in times past is derived that of since ever (Germ. von jener), what used to happen, was, is, the old custom; hence, in propositions which state, as the result cf experience, that any thing is wont to take place, at times (only ante-class. and poet.):
nunc lenonum plus est fere, Quam olim muscarum'st, cum caletur maxime, Plaut. Truc. 1, 1, 45; cf. id. Mil. 1, 1, 2; id. Poen. 1, 2, 143; cf. also id. Trin. 2, 4, 123: saxum tumidis submersum tunditur olim Fluctibus, etc., Verg. A. 5, 125; id. ib. 8, 391: ut pueris olim dant crustula blandi Doctores, Hor. S. 1, 1, 25 Orell.: ut calceus olim, Si pede major erit, subvertet, si minor, uret, id. Ep. 1, 10, 42; id. C. 4, 4, 5: parentis olim si quis impiā manu Senile guttur fregerit, id. Epod. 3, 1: ut olim Amisso dubiae rege vagantur apes, Ov. F. 3, 555: color oris erat, qui frondibus olim Esse solet seris, id. ib. 6, 149; id. M. 14, 429: an quid est olim homini salute melius? ever, Plaut. As. 3, 3, 128: vestra meos olim si fistula dicat amores, if ever, Verg. E. 10, 34.—2. Now for a long time, this good while, long ago (mostly post-Aug.;
not in Cic.): olim non librum in manus sumpsi: olim nescio, quid sit otium, Plin. Ep. 8, 9, 1: audio quid veteres olim moneatis amici, Juv. 6, 346: nullas mihi epistulas mittas, Plin. Ep. 1, 11, 1: provisum erat, Tac. A. 13, 15: corruptis moribus, id. ib. 14, 15: olim jam nec perit quicquam mihi nec acquiritur, Sen. Ep. 77, 3.—II. Of the future, one day, on a future day, at a future time, hereafter (rare but class.): audire edepol lubet. St. Primum omnium olim terra quom proscinditur, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 122:
utinam coram tecum olim, potius quam per epistulas! Cic. Att. 11, 4, 1: exoriare aliquis ultor...Nunc, olim, quocumque dabunt se tempore vires, Verg. A. 4, 625; cf.: non si male nunc et olim Sic erit, Hor. C. 2, 10, 17: forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit, Verg. A. 1, 203: numquid ego illi Imprudens olim faciam simile? Hor. S. 1, 4, 137: vir nominabitur, Quint. 10, 1, 104.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
ōlim adv.,
at that time, some time ago, once upon a time, once, formerly, of old: ut fuit olim Sisyphus, H.: sic olim loquebantur: ut erant olim: Alium esse censes nunc me, atque olim, T.—Once and again, now and then, at times, customarily, frequently, ever: saxum tunditur olim Fluctibus, etc., V.: ut pueris olim dant crustula Doctores, H.: ut olim vagantur apes, O.: Vestra meos olim si fistula dicat amores, if ever, V.—This long time, this good while: Audio quid veteres olim moneatis amici, Iu.—Of the future, one day, some time, hereafter: utinam coram tecum olim, potius quam per epistulas!: non si male nunc et olim Sic erit, H.: forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit, V.
Origins
For ōle, olle, ōlus, ollus, archaic forms of ille, with locative ending -im, = illō tempore.