Lewis & Short

rĕlĭgĭōsus (in the poets also rellig-), a, um, adj. [religio],

  1. I. reverencing or fearing God (the gods), pious, devout, religious: qui omnia quae ad cultum deorum pertinerent, diligenter retractarent et tamquam relegerent, sunt dicti religiosi ex relegendo, etc., Cic. N. D. 2, 28, 72 (cf. religio init.): religiosi dicuntur, qui faciendarum praetermittendarumque rerum divinarum secundum morem civitatis delectum habent, nec se superstitionibus implicant, Fest. p. 289, 15 Müll.: naturā sancti et religiosi, Cic. Rosc. Com. 15, 44: asotos ita non religiosos ut edant de patellā, id. Fin. 2, 7, 22: si magis religiosa fuerit, Plaut. As. 4, 1, 37: nostri majores, religiosissimi mortales, Sall. C. 12, 3: mortuis religiosa jura tribuere, religious rites, Cic. Lael. 4, 13: mores justi, integri, religiosi, id. de Or. 2, 43, 184: amicitiae religiosā quādam necessitudine imbutae, quint. 1, 2, 20: hominem occidere religiosissimum erat, was a thing exceedingly pious or pleasing to the gods, Plin. 30, 1, 4, § 13; cf.: aliqui nomine quoque consalutare religiosius putant, etc., id. 28, 2, 5, § 23: Judaei, viri religiosi, Vulg. Act. 2, 5.
        1. b. Eccl. Lat., of or belonging to the clergy, clerical (opp. saecularis), Salv. Avar. 3, 5.
  2. II. Transf. (acc. to religio, II.).
    1. A. Subject., religiously considerate, careful, anxious, scrupulous: civitas religiosa, in principiis maxime novorum bellorum . . . ne quid praetermitteretur, quod aliquando factum esset. ludos Jovi donumque vovere consulem jussit, Liv. 31, 9: per hos quoque dies abstinent terrenis operibus religiosiores agricolae, Col. 11, 2, 98; 11, 3, 62: quem campi fructum quia religiosum erat consumere, was a matter of religious scruple, Liv. 2, 5; 3, 22; 5, 52; 6, 27; cf.: religiosum est, quod jurati legibus judicarunt, Cic. Inv. 1, 30, 48.
        1. b. Overscrupulous, over-anxious, superstitious (rare and only ante-class.): religentem esse oportet, religiosum nefas, Poët. ap. Gell. 4, 9, 1: ecquis incultior, religiosior, desertior? Cato ap. Fest. s. v. repulsior, p. 236: ut stultae et miserae sumus Religiosae, Ter. Heaut. 4, 1, 37.
      1. 2. In gen., scrupulous, strict, precise, accurate, conscientious: religiosus est non modo deorum sanctitatem magni aestimans, sed etiam officiosus adversus homines, Fest. p. 278 Müll.: quod et in re misericordem se praebuerit et in testimoniis religiosum, Cic. Caecin. 10, 26: testis religiosissimus, id. Vatin. 1, 1: natio minime in testimoniis dicendis religiosa, id. Fl. 10, 23: judex, Quint. 4, 1, 9: quem rerum Romanarum auctorem laudare possum religiosissimum, Cic. Brut. 11, 44: ad Atticorum aures teretes et religiosas qui se accommodant, id. Or. 9, 27: ephorus vero non est religiosissimae fidei, Sen. Q. N. 7, 16, 2: religiosissimis verbis jurare, Petr. 21.
    2. B. Of the objects of religious veneration (temples, statues, utensils, etc.), holy, sacred: templum sane sanctum et religiosum, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 43, § 94; cf. id. Imp. Pomp. 22, 65: signum sacrum ac religiosum, id. Verr. 2, 4, 57, § 127; and so with sacer, id. Leg. 3, 13, 31: dies, Suet. Tib. 61: ex Aesculapi religiosissimo fano, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 43, § 93: Ceres antiquissima, religiosissima, id. ib. 2, 4, 49, § 109; cf.: religiosissimum simulacrum Jovis Imperatoris, id. ib. 2, 4, 57, § 128: altaria, id. Planc. 35, 68: deorum limina, Verg. A. 2, 365: loca, Cic. Rab. Perd. 2, 7: sacra religiosissima, Vell. 2, 45, 1; Suet. Aug. 7: vestes, id. Tib. 36; id. Oth. 12: simulacra, Sedul. 1, 227: divini juris sunt veluti res sacrae et religiosae . . . (sunt res) religiosae quae diis manibus relictae sunt, Gai. Inst. 2, 3 sq.
      1. 2. Esp.: dies religiosus, a day upon which it was unlucky to undertake any thing important, a day of evil omen, e. g. the dies Alliensis, the dies atri, etc., Cic. Att. 9, 5, 2; Lucil. ap. Non. 379, 19; Liv. 6, 1; 26, 17; 37, 33; Suet. Tib. 61; id. Claud. 14 al.; cf. Gell. 4, 9, 4; and Fest. s. h. v. p. 231.
      2. 3. Solum religiosum, land consecrated by the burial of the dead, Gai. Inst. 2, 6 sq.
        Hence, adv.: rē̆lĭgĭō-sē.
      1. 1. Piously, religiously: religiosius deos colere, Liv. 10, 7; cf.: templum religiosissime colere, Cic. Inv. 2, 1, 1: natalem religiosius celebrare, Plin. Ep. 3, 7, 8.
      2. 2. Considerately, scrupulously, punctually, exactly, conscientiously: testimonium dicere, Cic. Cael. 22, 55; cf. Plin. Pan. 65, 2: commendare, Cic. Fam. 13, 17 fin.: nihil religiose administrabat, Col. 3, 10, 7; cf. id. 8, 5, 11: quicquid rogabatur, religiose promittebat, considerately, cautiously, Nep. Att. 15: religiosius rem rusticam colere, Col. 11, 2, 95: poëticen religiosissime veneror, Plin. Ep. 3, 15, 2.