noun · masculinethird declension
pōns
pōns m (genitive pontis)
Classical[ˈpõːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈpɔns]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- A bridge, a construction or natural feature that spans a divide.
Caesar partitis copiis cum Gaio Fabio legato et Marco Crasso quaestore celeriterque effectis pontibus adit tripertito, aedificia vicosque incendit, magno pecoris atque hominum numero potitur.
Caesar, having divided his forces with C. Fabius, his lieutenant, and M. Crassus his questor, and having hastily constructed some bridges, enters their country in three divisions, burns their houses and villages, and gets possession of a large number of cattle and men.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 6.6 - deck
Multae pontibus stratae, super quas tormenta veherentur.
Many (ships) were covered with decks, on which engines for missiles might be conveyed.c. 117 CE, Tacitus, Annales 2.6
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
via super aquam facta; pontem trānsīmus.pōns pontis m — in Mille Verba, ch. Via et Iter
bridge
pōns, pontis — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 2, 3
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | pōns ponticulus | pontēs ponticulī |
| genitive | pontis ponticulī | pontium ponticulōrum |
| dative | pontī ponticulō | pontibus ponticulīs |
| accusative | pontem ponticulum | pontēs pontīs, ponticulōs |
| ablative | ponte ponticulō | pontibus ponticulīs |
| vocative | pōns ponticule | pontēs ponticulī |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- inicere pontem
- to build a bridge over a river.
- pons est in flumine
- there is a bridge over the river.
- pontem facere in flumine
- to build a bridge over a river.
- pontem dissolvere, rescindere, interscindere (B. G. 2. 9. 4)
- to break down a bridge.
pons, ntis, m. kindred with Sanscr. pathi, a path; Gr. πάτος; old Germ. phat, pfat; mod. Germ. Pfad; Angl.-Sax. padh; hence prop. a board across a ditch, brook, etc.,
I. a bridge across a river, ditch, or marsh, between towers, etc.
I. In gen.:
pars oppidi mari disjuncta angusto, ponte rursus adjungitur et continetur, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 52, § 117: pontem in Arare faciendum curat, to throw a bridge over the stream, Caes. B. G. 1, 13: in Isarā, flumine maximo, ponte uno die facto, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 15, 3: in Histro flumine, Nep. Milt. 3, 1; so, inicere pontem, Liv. 26, 6; Tac. A. 15, 19: flumen ponte jungere, Liv. 21, 45; Curt. 3, 7, 1: amnem ponte junxit, id. 4, 9, 9: imponere pontem flumini, id. 5, 1, 22: pontibus palude constratā, Hirt. B. G. 8, 14: pontem navibus efficere, Tac. A. 6, 37: ponte flumen transgredi, id. ib. 13, 39; also: ponte flumen transmittere, Plin. Ep. 8, 8; and: ponte flumen traicere, Flor. 4, 12, 22: interscindere pontem, to break down, Cic. Leg. 2, 4, 10; also, rescindere, Nep. Milt. 3, 4: interrumpere, Plaut. Cas. prol. 66; Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 23, 3: rumpere, Quint. 2, 13, 16; Tac. A. 2, 68: abrumpere, id. H. 3, 6: recidere, Curt. 4, 16, 8: solvere, Tac. A. 1, 69: dissolvere, Nep. Them. 5, 1: vellere, Verg. A. 8, 650: partem pontis rescindere, Caes. B. G. 6, 29.—Esp., as a stand for beggars, Juv. 5, 8; cf. id. 4, 116: aliquis de ponte, i. e. a beggar, id. 14, 134.—Plur.: plures dies efficiendis pontibus absumpti, a bridge of several spans, Tac. A. 2, 8; 11, 13; Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 23, 3; cf. id. ib. 10, 18, 4.—II. In partic.
A. The bridge at the Comitia, over which the voters passed one by one to the septum, to deposit their votes, Cic. Att. 1, 14, 5; Auct. Her. 1, 12, 21; Ov. F. 5, 634. Hence the proverb: sexagenarios de ponte; v. sexagenarius.—
B. A wooden drawbridge, to be let down from besieging towers to the walls of a town or fortress, Tac. A. 4, 51; Suet. Aug. 20.—
D. The deck of a ship on which the military engines were placed, Tac. A. 2, 6.—
E. A floor of a tower, Verg. A. 9, 530; 12, 675.—
F. A wooden bridge on a narrow wall between two towers, Verg. A. 9, 170.
Pons, ntis, m.,
I. a geographical proper name.
I. Pons Argenteus, the modern Argens, Lepid. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 34, 2; 10, 35.—
III. Aureoli, the modern Pontiruolo, Trebell. XXX. Tyr. Aureol. al.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
pōns ontis, m
1 PAT-, a bridge : pars oppidi ponte adiungitur: pontem in Arare faciendum curat, has a bridge built over , Cs.: velut ponte iniecto transitum dedit, L.: Campanus, a bridge on the Appian Way leading into Campania , H.: amnem ponte iunxit, Cu.: ratis religata pontis in modum, L.: interscindere pontem, break down : recidere, Cu.: vellere, V.: partem pontis rescindere, Cs.: nusquam pons? (bridges being the resort of beggars), Iu.—Plur: dies efficiendis pontibus absumpti, a draw-bridge , Ta.: pontīsque et propugnacula iungunt, V.— A bridge, walk, connecting passage, scaffolding, gallery : operae Clodianae pontīs occuparant, i. e. the narrow gallery admitting voters to the saepta at the Comitia : socios de puppibus Pontibus exponit, planks , V.: Turris erat pontibus altis, galleries , i. e. stories , V.: naves pontibus stratae, decks , Ta.
Origins
From Proto-Italic *ponts, from Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s (“path, road”), from *pent- (“path”). Cognate with Sanskrit पन्था (pánthā-), Ancient Greek πόντος (póntos), Old Armenian հուն (hun, “riverbed”), Old English findan (English find), and Old Church Slavonic пѫть (pǫtĭ, “road”). Doublet of Pontus.
Elsewhere
- Catalanpont
- Frenchpont
- Italianponte
- Occitanpònt
- Portuguesepontefrom Old Galician-Portuguese ponte
- Sardinianponte
- Sardinianponti
- Spanishpuente
- Englishpons
- Englishpontine
Balkan Romance
- Romanianpunte
- Aromanianpunti
- Megleno-Romanianpunti