prŏcul, adv. [procello, to drive away], in the distance, at a distance, a great way off, far, afar off, from afar.
- I. Lit., of place (class.; cf.: longe, eminus); constr. absol.; with adv. of place; with ab and abl. (not in Cic., Cæs., or Sall.); with abl. alone: cuja vox sonat procul? Plaut. Curc. 1, 2, 18: sequi procul, id. Poen. 3, 3, 6: non jam procul, sed hic praesentes sua templa dii defendunt, Cic. Cat. 2, 13. 29: ubi turrim constitui procul viderunt, Caes. B. G. 2, 30: jubet, ut procul tela coniciant, neu propius accedant, id. ib. 5, 34: procul attendere, Cic. de Or. 2, 36, 153: procul e fluctu Trinacria, Verg. A. 3, 554: est procul in pelago saxum, id. ib. 5, 124: procul et e longinquo, Plin. 27, 3, 2, § 9: omnibus arbitris procul amotis, Sall. C. 20, 1: procul o, procul este, profani, keep aloof! Verg. A. 6, 258: cui procul astanti, Pettalus irridens dixit, Ov. M. 5, 114; cf.: adstans non procul, App. M. 7, p. 183, 14.
With other particles of place, as hinc, inde, alicunde, longe, etc.: procul hinc stans, at a distance from this place, Ter. Hec. 4, 3, 1; Plaut. Truc. 4, 1, 11: istic procul, id. Mil. 4, 4, 33: istinc procul, id. Rud. 4, 4, 104: procul inde, Ov. Am. 3, 14, 18: procul alicunde, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 20, § 48: procul longe, Plaut. Curc. 2, 2, 10.
With a or ab, far from, far away from (class.): procul a terrā abripi, Cic. de Or. 3, 36, 145: esse procul a conspectu, far out of sight, id. Agr. 2, 32, 87: a castris, Caes. B. G. 5, 17: a portā, Liv. 1, 12, 8: ab Ariciā, id. 2, 26, 5: ab hoste, id. 7, 37, 6: a domo, id. 4, 18, 1; 5, 4, 11: a patriā, id. 23, 29, 7; Verg. E. 10, 46: a mari, Plin. 2, 103, 106, § 227: a Pado, id. 3, 17, 21, § 124: a litore, Quint. 12, prooem. § 2: ab ore, id. 11, 3, 96: a fratre, Plin. Ep. 5, 9, 3: a mari, Sen. Q. N. 6, 7 fin.
With simple abl., far from, far away from: patriā procul, Enn. ap. Cic. Fam. 7, 6, 1 (Trag. v. 295 Vahl.): urbe, Ov. P. 1, 5, 73: ripā Tiberis, Liv. 2, 13, 6: oppido, id. 3, 22, 4: moenibus, id. 4, 10, 5: Nomento, id. 4, 22, 2: mari, Liv. 38, 16, 15: haud procul castris, Tac. H. 4, 22: Teutoburgiensi Saltu, id. A. 1, 60: regno, id. ib. 2, 67: non procul Euripidis poëtae sepulcro, Plin. 31, 2, 19, § 28: urbe Romā, id. 2, 94, 96, § 209: oppido, id. 3, 3, 4, § 21.
- II. Trop., far, distant, remote; constr, with ab, the abl., or absol.: conscia mihi sum a me culpam hanc esse procul, Ter. Ad. 3, 2, 50: procul ab omni metu, Cic. Tusc. 5, 14, 41: viri, qui sunt procul ab aetatis hujus memoriā, id. Rep. 1, 1, 1: caelestia procul sunt a nostrā cognitione, id. Ac. 1, 4, 15: res procul ab ostentatione positae, Quint. 1, prooem. § 4: quis tam procul a litteris, quin sic incipiat, so unacquainted with letters, so unlettered, id. 7, 1, 46; 8, 3, 23: ab odio, ab irā, id. 6, 2, 14: a sapiente, Sen. Ira, 1, 6, 4: ab omni negotio, id. Brev. Vit. 11, 2: a praesenti modestiā, Tac. A. 12, 6.
With simple abl.: liber invidiā, procul contentionibus, Quint. 12, 11, 7: eam (plebem) procul urbe haberi, out of public affairs, Liv. 4, 58, 12: procul negotiis, Hor. Epod. 2, 1: ambitione, id. S. 1, 6, 52: voluptatibus habere aliquem, to keep one aloof from enjoyments, deprive him of them, Tac. A. 4, 62: tali more, id. ib. 4, 28: procul dubio, without doubt, Quint. 1, 5, 14; 9, 1, 27; Plin. 9, 61, 87, § 184; Liv. 39, 40, 10; Suet. Ner. 3; for which: dubio procul, Flor. 2, 6; Lucr. 1, 812: procul vero est, far from the truth, untrue, Col. 1 praef. fin.
Absol.: assentatio vitiorum adjutrix procul amoveatur, Cic. Lael. 24, 89: homines superbissimi procul errant, err widely, greatly, Sall. J. 85, 38: pauperies immunda domus procul absit, i.e. pauperies domestica procul absit, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 199: durabisne procul dominoque legere superstes, Thebai? Stat. Th. 12, 810: non procul est quin, it does not want much of, etc., almost, nearly, Sil. 2, 335: haud procul est quin Romam agnosceret, Liv. 1, 5, 6.
- B. In partic. (post-Aug. and very rare), in estimation of value, far removed from, much inferior to: aes suo colore pretiosum, procul a Corinthio (est), is far beneath or inferior to, much poorer than, Plin. 34, 2, 3, § 8.