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.

lībro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [libra].

  1. I. To balance, make even, level, to determine a level: aquam, to level water, i. e. to ascertain the fall of water by means of a level, Vitr. 8, 6, 3: collocationem libratam indicare, id 8, 6, 1.
    Pass. impers.: libratur autem dioptris, Vitr. 8, 6, 1.
    1. B. Transf., to make even or level: pavimenta, Cato, R. R. 18, 7.
  2. II. To hold in equilibrium, to poise, balance: terra librata ponderibus, Cic. Tusc. 5, 24, 69: columnarum turbines ita librati perpenderunt, ut puero circumagente tornarentur, Plin. 36, 13, 19, § 91: librati pondera caeli orbe tene medio, Luc. 1, 58.
    1. B. To cause to hang or swing, to keep suspended, keep in its place: vela cadunt primo et dubia librantur ab aura, are waved to and fro, Ov. F. 3, 585: et fluctus supra, vento librante, pependit, Sil. 17, 274: aëris vi suspensam librari medio spatio tellurem, Plin. 2, 5, 4, § 10.
    2. C. To cause to swing, to swing, sway, brandish, set in motion, hurl, dash, cast, launch, fling, throw: summā telum librabat ab aure, Verg. A. 9, 417: ferro praefixum robur, id. ib. 10, 479: caestus, id. ib. 5, 478: tum librat ab aure intorquens jaculum, Sil. 5, 576: dextra libratum fulmen ab aure misit, Ov. M. 2, 311; 5, 624; 7, 787; Luc. 3, 433: librata cum sederit glans, Liv. 38, 29: librare se, to balance or poise one’s self, to fly: cursum in aëre, Ov. Am. 2, 6, 11: saepe lapillos Tollunt; his sese per inania nubila librant, Verg. G. 4, 196: haliaeetos librans ex alto sese, Plin. 10, 3, 3, § 8: corpus in herba, to stretch one’s self out on the grass, Ov. F. 1, 429: incidentis manus libratur artifici temperamento, Plin. 12, 25, 54, § 115: librare iter, to take one’s way, Sen. Oed. 899.
  3. III. Trop.
    1. A. To make of even weight, to balance, make equal (poet.): orbem horis, Col. 10, 42: crimina in antithetis, Pers. 1, 85.
    2. B. To weigh, ponder, consider (poet. and in post-class. prose): librabat metus, Stat. Th. 9, 165: quae omnia meritorum momenta perpendit, librat, examinat, Naz. Pan. ad Const. 7: praescriptiones, Cod. Th. 8, 4, 26.
      Hence, lībrātus, a, um, P. a.
    1. A. Level, horizontal: aquam non esse libratam, sed sphaeroides habere schema, Vitr. 8, 6.
    2. B. Poised, balanced, swung, hurled, launched; forcible, powerful: librata cum sederit (glans), Liv. 38, 29: librato magis et certo ictu, violent, powerful, Tac. H. 2, 22: malleus dextra libratus ab aure, Ov. M. 2, 624: per nubes aquila librata volatu, Sil. 15, 429.
      Comp.: libratior ictus, Liv. 30, 10; cf. id. 42, 65.
      Hence, * adv.: lībrātē, deliberately: aliquid eligere, Serv. Verg. A. 2, 713.