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.

fătĕor, fassus, 2 (archaic inf. praes. faterier, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 148), v. dep. a. [from the root ΦΑ, φάω, fari], to confess, own, grant, acknowledge.

  1. I. Prop. (freq. and class.; syn.: confiteor, profiteor); construed for the most part with acc. and inf. as object; rarely with the acc., de, or absol.
          1. (α) With acc.: si verum mihi eritis fassae, vinclis exsolvemini, Plaut. Truc. 4, 3, 10: so, verum fateri, Plin. 27, 1, 1, § 2; Curt. 6, 3: ut verius fatear, Eum. Grat. Act. 1: quid fatebor? Plaut. Capt. 3, 4, 3; 2, 2, 67: multi in tormentis mori maluerunt falsum fatendo quam infitiando dolere, Cic. Part. 14, 50: peccatum, culpam, Ov. Tr. 1, 315; Hor. S. 2, 4, 4: delicta, Ov. M. 4, 685: mores suos, Quint. 10, 1, 100: sensus suos, Ov. H. 21, 204: paupertatem, id. M. 8, 634 et saep.
            Prov.: fatetur facinus, si quis judicium fugit, Pub. Syr. 174 Rib.
          2. (β) With acc. and inf. as object: fateor atque etiam profiteor et prae me fero, te, etc., Cic. Rab. Perd. 5, 17: me despexe ad te per impluvium tuum, Fateor, Plaut. Mil. 2, 6, 73: fateor eam esse importunam, id. As. 1, 1, 47: si quis contra rem publicam se amici causa fecisse fateatur, Cic. Lael. 12, 40: qui se debere fateantur, *Caes. B. C. 3, 20, 3: cum se Cicero ab illis plurimum fateatur adjutum, Quint. 10, 1, 40: fateor me duci ventre, Hor. S. 2, 7, 37: jura inventa metu injusti fateare necesse est, id. ib. 1, 3, 111; id. Ep. 2, 1, 85: hominum igitur causa eas rerum copias comparatas fatendum est, Cic. N. D. 2, 63, 158.
            With ellips. of acc.: fateor peccavisse, Plaut. Most. 5, 2, 18: non didici sane nescire fateri, Hor. A. P. 418.
            With two acc.: cum se servum fateatur tuum, Ter. Eun. 5, 2, 24: eum (i. e. Jovem) ipsi lapides hominem fatebuntur, Lact. 1, 11, 28: fassus hujus se spectaculi debitorem, Sen. Contr. 1, 1, 11.
          3. (γ) With de: cum de facto turpi aliquo aut inutili aut utroque fateatur, Cic. Inv. 2, 26, 77.
          4. (δ) Absol.: ita libenter confitetur, ut non solum fateri, sed etiam profiteri videatur, Cic. Caecin. 9, 24: Me. Est tibi nomen Menaechmo? M. Fateor, Plaut. Men. 5, 9, 48: leno sum, fateor, Ter. Ad. 2, 1, 34: non potest sine malo fateri, id. Eun. 4, 4, 47: qui a Naevio vel sumpsisti multa, si fateris, vel, si negas, surripuisti, Cic. Brut. 19, 76; cf. Quint. 5, 12, 13: nulline faterier audes? Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 148: in fatendo lenis et summissa (vox), Quint. 11, 3, 63: ad fatendum impulsus, id. 5, 13, 46: da veniam fasso, Ov. P. 4, 2, 23; parenthetically: fateor, Plaut. Aul. 4. 4, 16: fatebor enim, Verg. E. 1, 31; id. A. 4, 20; Ov. M. 9, 362 al.
  2. II. Transf.
    1. A. In gen., to discover, show, indicate, manifest (rare; not in Cic.): Laterensis nostri et fidem et animum singularem in rem publicam semper fatebor, bear witness to, Planc. ap. Cic. Fam. 10, 23, 4; Quint. 1, 6, 23: innocentem fuisse patrem fatetur, id. 7, 1, 56; 1, 10, 37: utque sedet vultu fassus Telamonius iram, Ov. Tr. 2, 525: patinarum calore pisces vitalem motum fateri, Plin. 9, 57, 83, § 177: mors sola fatetur, Quantula sint hominum corpuscula, Juv. 10, 172; 15, 132: properabo fateri, quae, etc., id. 3, 59: Belus amnis non nisi refuso mari harenas fatetur, Plin. 36, 26, 65, § 190.
    2. B. In gram. lang.: fatendi modus, the indicative, Quint. 1, 6, 7; Varr. L. L. 8, 5, 8.
      Note:
      1. 1. In pass. signif.: hunc (agrum) excipere nominatim, qui publicus esse fateatur, Cic. Agr. 2, 21, 57 (dub.).
      2. 2. Impers.: vulgo fatebatur, utique minorem eum legasse, Dig. 30, 1, 39, § 6.

‡ fātor, āri, v. a. freq. [for] only: fatantur, multa fantur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 88, 11 Müll.: fatatus, εἱμαρμένος, Gloss. Philox.; cf. ib.: fator, πολυλογέω, v. ‡ fatantur.