Lewis & Short

con-texo, xŭi, xtum, 3, v. a. and n.

  1. I. Act., to weave, entwine, braid, join together; to interweave, unite, connect (class. in prose and poetry).
    1. A. In gen.
      1. 1. Prop.: ut earum (ovium) villis confectis atque contextis homines vestiantur? Cic. N. D. 2, 63, 158: alba lilia amarantis, Tib. 3, 4, 33: haec directā materiā injecta contexebantur, these (beams) were held together by timbers laid in a straight direction, Caes. B. G. 4, 17; so id. ib. 7, 23, 4 (cf. Jahn, Neue Jahrb. 1855, p. 516 sq.): fossam loricamque, Tac. A. 4, 49: nec tam contextae cum sint (animae cum corporibus), Lucr. 3, 695.
        With dat. (post-Aug.): optime epilogum defensioni contexit, Sen. Contr. 7 (3), 20, 7: sceleribus scelera contexens, Sen. Ira, 1, 16, 3.
      2. 2. Trop.: quid est aetas hominis, nisi memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur? Cic. Or. 34, 120: conjuncte nostra cum reliquis rebus, id. Fam. 5, 12, 2: extrema cum primis, id. ib. 10, 13, 2: his et plasticen, Plin. 35, 12, 43, § 151: partes, Quint. 4, prooem. 7; 11, 1, 6: in verbis singulis et contextis, id. 9, 4, 23 al.: longius hoc carmen, to weave on, continue, Cic. Cael. 8, 18; cf. interrupta, id. Leg. 1, 3, 9: Caesaris nostri commentarios rerum gestarum Galliae, Auct. B. G. 8, prooem.: quae statim referri non poterant, contexuntur postero die, Quint. 11, 2, 43.
    2. B. Esp., to join together, to compose, make, construct, form, put together (cf.: compono, conecto, consero, etc.).
      1. 1. Lit.: equum trabibus acernis, Verg. A. 2, 112: puppes tenui cannā, Val. Fl. 2, 108: saccum tenui vimine, Col. 9, 15, 12.
      2. 2. Trop.: orationem, Quint. 10, 6, 2; cf. librum, Sen. Ep. 114, 18: crimen, to devise, contrive, invent, Cic. Deiot. 6, 19.
  2. II. Neutr.: contexere de aliquā re, to treat of: de sili, Plin. 20, 5, 18, § 36.
    Hence, contextus, a, um, P. a., cohering, connected: contexta condensaque corpora (opp. diffusa), Lucr. 4, 57: oratio alia vincta atque contexta, soluta alia, Quint. 9, 4, 19: tropos ille (corresp. with continua μεταφορά), id. 9, 2, 46.
    * Adv.: contex-tē, connected together, in close connection: omnia necesse est colligatione naturali conserte contexteque fieri, Cic. Fat. 14, 32.

1. contextus, a, um, Part. and P. a., from contexo.

2. contextus, ūs, m. [contexo], a joining or putting together, a connection (class.; esp. freq. in the trop. signif., and in Quint.).

  1. I. Lit.: corporum, * Lucr. 1, 243: aedificiorum, the building of, Dig. 39, 2, 15: ratis, Aus. Per. Odyss. 5.
  2. II. Trop., connection, coherence (very freq. in Quint.): mirabilis est apud illos (sc. Stoicos) contextus rerum: respondent extrema primis, etc., Cic. Fin. 5, 28, 83; cf.: in toto quasi contextu orationis, id. Part. Or. 23, 82; and: rerum ac verborum, Quint. 11, 2, 2: verborum, id. 11, 2, 28; 11, 2, 24: sermonis, id. 8, 3, 38: dicendi, id. 10, 7, 26: per partes dissolvitur, quod contextu nocet, id. 5, 13, 28; 9, 4, 55. historia non tam finitos numeros quam orbem quendam contextumque desiderat, id. 9, 4, 129; cf. Ernest. Lex. Techn. p. 90: litterarum, the succession of the letters, id. 1, 1, 24 sq.; cf.: in contextu operis, in the course, Tac. H. 2, 8.