Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

ăbĭēs, ĕtis (abietis, abiete, trisyllabic in poet., Enn. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44; Verg. A. 2, 16 al.; so, abietibus, quadrisyl. sometimes, as Verg. A. 9, 674), f. [etym. uncer., perh. akin to ἀλδαίνω; cf. ἐλάτη = pinus],

  1. I. the silver-fir: Pinus picea, Linn.: ἐλάτη, the tree as well as the wood of it, Plin. 16, 10, 19, § 48; Pall. 12, 15, 1: abies consternitur alta, Enn. ap. Macr. 6, 2 (Ann. v. 195 Vahl.): crispa, id. ap. Cic. Tusc. 3, 19, 44 (Trag. v. 117 ib.): enodis, Ov. M. 10. 94. In Verg., on account of its dark foliage, called nigra: nigrā abiete, A. 3, 599: abietibus patriis aequi juvenes, tall as their native firs, id. ib. 9, 674 (imitation of Hom. ll. 5, 560: ἐλάτῃσιν ἐοικότες ὑψηλῇσιν).
  2. II. Poet., meton. (cf. Quint. 8, 6, 20), like the Greek ἐλάτη, any thing made of fir.
      1. 1. = epistula, a letter (written on a tablet of fir), Plaut. Pers. 2, 2, 66 (cf. Engl. book, i. e. beech).
      2. 2. = navis, a ship, Verg. G. 2, 68; id. A. 8, 91; cf. id. ib. 5, 663.
      3. 3. = hasta, a lance, Verg. A. 11, 667.