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.

lactĕo, ēre (used almost exclusively in the part. pres.), v. a. [lac].

  1. I. To suck milk, to be a suckling: Romulus parvus atque lactens, uberibus lupinis inhians, Cic. Cat. 3, 8, 19; so, lactens Juppiter puer, id. Div. 2, 41, 85: vitulus, Ov. M. 2, 624; 10, 227: lactens hostia, Cic. Leg. 2, 12, 29; also absol.: lactentibus rem divinam facere, Liv. 37, 3.
    Poet.: viscera lactentia, i. e. sucking children, sucklings, Ov. F. 6, 137.
    Of the spring: tener et lactens (sc. annus), Ov. M. 15, 201.
  2. II. To contain milk or sap, to be milky, sappy, juicy: verno tempore, cum lactent novella virentia, Pall. 3, 26; cf.: nam sata, vere novo, teneris lactentia sucis, Ov. F. 1, 351: frumenta in viridi stipula lactentia turgent, Verg. G. 1, 315: lactuca lactens, Plin. 20, 7, 26, § 67.
    Subst.: lactentĭa, ium, n., milk-food, milk-dishes, Cels. 2, 28.

1. lacto, āvi, ātum (used almost exclusively in the part. pres.), 1, v. a. and n. [lac].

  1. I. To contain milk, to have milk, to give suck: ubera lactantia, Ov. M. 6, 342; 7, 321; Lucr. 5, 885: ubera quae non lactaverunt, Vulg. Luc. 23, 29: quaecunque (femina) id temporis lactans est, Gell. 12, 1, 17.
  2. II. To suck milk, to take the breast, to suck: puer lactans, Liv. Andron. ap. Non. 153, 26 (Trag. Rel. v. 38 Rib.); cf.: infans lactavit, Aus. Epit. 32: anni lactantes, the suckling years (of a child), id. Idyll. 4, 67.
  3. III. To be full of milk, to be milky: metae, cheeses, Mart. 1, 43, 7 (cf.: meta lactis, id. 3, 58, 35).
    Part. as subst.: lactantia, ium, n., milky food, Cels. 2, 28, 2 al.
  4. IV. Act., to give suck to: lactaverunt catulos suos, Vulg. Thren. 4, 2: filium suum, id. 1 Reg. 1, 23.
    Pass.: lactare ut nutriaris, Aug. Enarr. in Psa. 130, 12: mamilla regum lactaberis, Vulg. Isa. 60, 16.

2. lacto, āvi, ātum, 1, v. freq. a. [lacio], to allure, wheedle, flatter, deceive with fair words, to dupe, cajole (mostly ante-class.): dictis lenibus lactare aliquem, Att. ap. Non. 16, 17: frustrando lactans, id. ib.: ita me amor lapsum animi ludificat … retinet, lactat largitur, Plaut. Cist. 2, 1, 9: animos, Ter. And. 5, 4, 9; 4, 1, 24: si te lactaverint peccatores, Vulg. Prov. 1, 10: nec lactes quemquam labiis tuis, id. ib. 24, 28.