noun · masculinefourth declension
saltus1
saltus m (genitive saltūs)
Meaning
- masculineA forest or mountain pasture; a pass, dale, ravine, glade.
aut ut apēs saltusque suos et olentia nactae / pascua per flōrēs et thyma summa volant
or as the bees, having attained their forest, and their sweet-smelling pastures, range through the flowers and the tips of the thyme2 CE, Ovidius, Ars Amatoria 1.95quos agros non colebant propter silvas aut id genus, ubi pecus possit pasci, et possidebant, ab usu svo saltus nominarunt.
Translation by Roland G. Kent The fields which they did not till on account of woods or that kind where flocks can be grazed, but still they took them for private use, they called "saltus" from the fact that their use was salvus (“saved”)116 BCE – 27 BCE, Marcus Terentius Varro, De Lingua Latina 5.36 - masculineA defile, a narrow pass
- historicalmasculineA saltus, a large unit of area equal to four centuriae (approximately 500 acres or 200 hectares), used especially in reference to tracts of public land.
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Silva · Saltus · Nemus · Lucus
Silva (ὕλη) denotes a wood, in a general sense, merely with reference to the timber, like ὕλη; whereas saltus (ἄλσος) as a wild place, or wood in the midst of mountains, like νάπη; nemus (νέμος) as a pleasant place, as a grove; lucus (λόχμη) as a sacred place, as a grove consecrated to the gods, like ἄλσος, ἆλτις. (ii. 93.)
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | saltus | saltūs |
| genitive | saltūs | saltuum |
| dative | saltuī | saltibus |
| accusative | saltum | saltūs |
| ablative | saltū | saltibus |
| vocative | saltus | saltūs |
saltus, ūs (
I. gen. salti, Att. ap. Non. 486, 1), m. etym. dub.; perh. akin to Sanscr. sar-, sal-, to go; v. Corss. Ausspr. 2, 71, a woody district, uncultivated but used for pasture, a forest-pasture, woodland-pasture, woodland (level or mountainous); freq. and class.; cf.: silva, nemus, lucus).
I. Lit.: saltus est, ubi silvae et pastiones sunt, quarum causā casae quoque. Si qua particula in eo saltu pastorum aut custodum causā aratur ea res non peremit nomen saltui, non magis quam fundi, qui est in agro culto, et ejus causā habet aedificium, si qua particula in eo habet silvam, Ael. Gall. ap. Fest. p. 302 Müll.; cf. Varr. L. L. 5, 6, 10:
conductor saltūs, in quo fundus est, Dig. 19, 1, 52: in saltu habente habitationes, ib. 3, 5, 27: saltum pascuum locare, ib. 19, 2, 19: silvestribus saltibus delectantur, Varr. R. R. 2, 3, 6: saltibus in vacuis pascunt, Verg. G. 3, 143: floriferis in saltibus, Lucr. 3, 11: de saltu agroque vi detruditur, Cic. Quint. 6, 28: silvis aut saltibus se eripere, Caes. B. G. 6, 43 fin.; cf.: montium domina ut fores, Silvarumque virentium Saltuumque reconditorum, Cat. 34, 11; so (with silvae) Verg. G. 3, 40; 4, 53; id. A. 4, 72; Ov. M. 2, 498; (with nemora) Verg. E. 10, 9; cf.: in silvestrem saltum, Curt. 4, 3, 21: unde tot Quinctilianus habet saltus, Juv. 7, 188; 10, 194; Hor. C. 2, 3, 17; 3, 4, 15; id. E. 2, 2, 178.—In the poets also as the abode of wild animals: saepire plagis saltum canibusque ciere, Lucr. 5, 1251; Verg. G. 1, 140; 2, 471; id. A. 4, 121: saltus venatibus apti, Ov. H. 5, 17; id. M. 2, 498.—2. Esp., a narrow pass, ravine, mountain - valley:
omnia vada ac saltus hujus paludis certis custodiis obtinebat, Caes. B. G. 7, 19: Pyrenaeos saltus occupari jubet, id. B. C. 1, 37; cf. id. ib. 1, 37 fin.; 1, 38; 3, 19: saltu angusto superatis montibus, Liv. 42, 53; cf.: angustiae saltibus crebris inclusae, id. 28, 1: ante saltum Thermopylarum in septentrionem versa Epirus, id. 36, 15: premendo praesidiis angustos saltus inclusit, id. 40, 40; cf.: nemorum jam claudite saltus, Verg. E. 6, 56: saltibus degressi scrupulosis et inviis, Amm. 19, 13, 1.—3. In partic., in agriculture, a portion of the public lands, consisting of four centuriae, Varr. R. R. 1, 10, 2.—
II. Trop.:
meumque erum ex hoc saltu damni salvum ut educam foras, from this forest of danger, this ticklish situation, Plaut. Men. 5, 6, 28; v. Ritschl ad h. 1.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
(saltus ūs), m
2 SAL-, a leaping, leap, spring, bound .—Only acc. and abl sing . and plur: saltu uti: corpora saltu Subiciunt in equos, V.: saltum dare, make a leap , O.: praeceps saltu sese In fluvium dedit, V.: (crura) saltibus apta, O.
saltus ūs, m
a forest, woodland, untilled mountain land, forest-pasture, woodland-pasture, thicket, jungle: de saltu detruditur: quas (familias) in saltibus habent: latebris aut saltibus se eripere, Cs.: fugā silvas saltūsque peragrat, V.: in silvestrem saltum, Cu.: coëmptis saltibus, H.: saltūs venatibus apti, O.—A narrow pass, ravine, mountain-valley, glen: saltūs duo montibus circa perpetuis inter se iuncti, L.: omnia vada ac saltūs eius paludis obtinebat, Cs.: angustiae saltibus crebris inclusae, L.: ante saltum Thermopylarum, L.: nemorum iam claudite saltūs, V.
Origins
Uncertain. Varro claims that the term initially described untilled land taken from private use and that its name derives from the word salvus (“saved”). Isidore of Seville connects the term with the verb saliō (“to jump”) and the growth of trees. It has also been connected with Ancient Greek ἄλσος (álsos), although this is unlikely. The philologist Edwin Fay has compared the term to German wald, from *walþuz.
Descendants
- Italiansalto
- Portuguesesouto
- Portuguesesoito
- Portuguesesalto
- Sardiniansartu
- Spanishsoto
- Asturiansotu
- Falasoitu
- Galiciansouto