Lewis & Short

prae-texo, xŭi, xtum, 3, v. a., to weave before or in front, to fringe, edge, border.

  1. I. Lit. (mostly poet.): purpura saepe tuos fulgens praetexit amictus, Ov. P. 3, 8, 7: glaucas comis praetexere frondes, weave around, Val. Fl. 3, 436; Plin. 16, 1, 1, § 4: praetexit arundine ripas Mincius, Verg. E. 7, 12: litora curvae Praetexunt puppes, id. A. 6, 5: fontem violis, Claud. Cons. Prob. et Olybr. 249: limina ramis, Rapt. Pros. 2, 320: ripam ulvis, Aus. Idyll. 10, 45: sicubi odoratas praetexit amaracus umbras, spreads over, Col. 10, 297.
    In mid. force: utraeque nationes Rheno praetexuntur, border on the Rhine, Tac. G. 34.
    1. B. Transf.
      1. 1. To place before or in front (syn.: praetendo, praepono): in his voluminibus auctorum nomina praetexui, Plin. praef. § 21: auctores quos praetexuimus volumini huic, id. 18, 25, 57, § 212: tibi maximus honor excubare pro templis, postibusque praetexi, i. e. that your statues stand before the temples, Plin. Pan. 52.
      2. 2. To border, to furnish, provide, or adorn with any thing: ex primo versu cujusque sententiae primis litteris illius sententiae carmen omne praetexitur, the whole poem is bordered (like an acrostic) with the initial letters from the first verse of every sentence (oracle), Cic. Div. 2, 54, 112: omnia quae aguntur acerrime, lenioribus principiis natura praetexuit, has provided with, etc., id. de Or. 2, 78, 317: praetexta quercu domus, Ov. F. 4, 953; 5, 567: summaque praetexat tenuis fastigia chartae, Indicet ut nomen, littera facta, meum, let my name be inscribed upon it, Tib. 3, 1, 11.
  2. II. Trop.
    1. A. To allege as an excuse, to pretend, to assign as a pretext (syn. causor): cupiditatem triumphi, Cic. Pis. 24, 56: nomina speciosa, Tac. H. 1, 72.
      With acc. and inf.: ubicumque ipsi essent, praetexentes esse rempublicam, Vell. 2, 62, 3: Tigellinus T. Vinii potentia defensus, praetexentis, servatam ab eo filiam, Tac. H. 1, 72.
    2. B. To cover, cloak, conceal, disguise with any thing: hoc praetexit nomine culpam, Verg. A. 4, 172: funera sacris, id. ib. 4, 500: fraudem blando risu, Claud. Ruf. 1, 99.
      Hence, praetextus, a, um, P. a., clothed with or wearing the toga praetexta: praetextus senatus (for praetextā in dutus), Prop. 4 (5), 1, 11: pubes, Aus. Prof. 18, 7.
    3. B. In partic.
      1. 1. Toga praetexta, and (post-Aug.) absol.: praetexta, ae, f., the outer garment, bordered with purple, worn at Rome by the higher magistrates and by free-born children till they assumed the toga virilis, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 14, § 36; 2, 1, 44, § 113; id. Q. Fr. 2, 12, 2; Liv. 27, 37; 33, 42; Plin. 9, 39, 63, § 136; 33, 1, 4, § 10 et saep.: praetextā pullā nulli alii licebat uti, quam ei, qui funus faciebat, Paul. ex Fest. p. 236 Müll.
        Hence,
        1. b. praetexta, ae, f. (sc. fabula), a tragedy, because celebrated Romans (like Brutus, Decius, Marcellus) were represented in it: nostri vestigia Graeca Ausi deserere, et celebrare domestica facta, Vel qui praetextas vel qui docuere togatas, Hor. A. P. 286; Pollio ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 32, 3: praetextam legere, id. ib. 10, 32, 5.
      2. 2. praetextum, i, n.
        1. a. An ornament, as something wrought or fastened in front (post-Aug.): pulcherrimum reipublicae praetextum, Sen. Ep. 71, 9.
        2. b. A pretence, pretext, excuse (post-Aug.; cf.: species, simulatio): et praetextum quidem illi civilium armorum hoc fuit: causas autem alias fuisse opinantur, Suet. Caes. 30: ad praetextum mutatae voluntatis, under pretext or color of, id. Aug. 12: ipse Ravennam devertit praetexto classem alloquendi, under pretext, Tac. H. 2, 100: praetexto reipublicae, id. ib. 3, 80; Sen. Contr. 4, 25, 14.