con-texo, xŭi, xtum, 3, v. a. and n.
- I. Act., to weave, entwine, braid, join together; to interweave, unite, connect (class. in prose and poetry).
- A. In gen.
- 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. 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.
- B. Esp., to join together, to compose, make, construct, form, put together (cf.: compono, conecto, consero, etc.).
- 1. Lit.: equum trabibus acernis, Verg. A. 2, 112: puppes tenui cannā, Val. Fl. 2, 108: saccum tenui vimine, Col. 9, 15, 12.
- 2. Trop.: orationem, Quint. 10, 6, 2; cf. librum, Sen. Ep. 114, 18: crimen, to devise, contrive, invent, Cic. Deiot. 6, 19.
- 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.