Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

1. scaeva, ae, f., v. scaevus.

2. scaeva, ae, m. [scaevus], a lefthanded person, Dig. 21, 1, 12; cf. Scaevola.

3. Scaeva, ae, m. [2. scaeva], a Roman surname, e. g. D. Junius Brutus Scaeva, consul A. U. C. 429, Liv. 10, 43; 10, 47: Cassius Scaeva, a partisan of Cœsar, Caes. B. C. 3, 53; Cic. Att. 13, 23, 3.

† scaevus, a, um, adj. [kindred with Sanscr. savya, laevus, sinister, as the Gr. σκαιός and the Germ. schief, oblique], left, that is on the left, towards the left side (rare; most freq. in Appul.; syn. laevus, sinister).

  1. I. Lit.: itinera portarum, i. e. running from right to left, Vitr. 1, 5, 2: iter, Serv. Verg. A. 3, 351.
  2. II. Trop.
    1. A. Awkward, perverse, stupid, silly: scaevus profecto et caecus animi forem, si, etc., Gell. 12, 13, 4: mulier, App. M. 9, p. 223, 22: scaevus iste Romulus, Sall. H. Fragm. 1, 41, 5 Dietsch: fabula, Paul. Nol. Carm. 11, 44.
    2. B. Of fortune, unfavorable, untoward, unlucky: fortunam scaevam an saevam verius dixerim, App. M. 2, p. 120, 21: praesagium, id. ib. 10, p. 247; 7, p. 194, 39.
      Sup.: scaevissimum somnium, App. M. 4, p. 154, 23.
      Hence, subst.: scaeva, ae, f., a sign or token in the sky (observed by a Roman on his left; v. laevus), an omen: bonae scaevae causă … Ea dicta ab scaevā id est sinistră, quod quae sinistra sunt, bona auspicia existimantur … a Graeco est, quod hi sinistram vocant σκαιάν, Varr. L. L. 7, § 97 Müll.; cf. Fest. p. 325 ib.: bona scaeva est mihi, Plaut. Ps. 4, 7, 39; so, bona, id. Stich. 5, 2, 24: canina scaeva, taken from the barking of a dog, id. Cas. 5, 4, 4.