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.

sisto, stĭti (Charis. p. 220, and Diom. p. 369, give steti for both sisto and sto, confining stiti to the compounds of both. But steti, as perfect of sisto, is late jurid. Lat., and perh. dub.; for steterant, Verg. A. 3, 110; steterint, id. ib. 3, 403; Liv. 8, 32, 12, belong to stare; cf. also Gell. 2, 14, 1 sqq.; and v. Neue, Formenl. 2, 461 sq.), stătum [root stă, strengthened by reduplication; cf. ἵστημι], used in two general senses, I. To cause to stand, place, = colloco, pono; II. To stand, be placed, = sto.

  1. I. Sistere, in gen., = collocare (in class. prose only in the partic. uses, v. A. 4. C. and D., infra).
    1. A. Causative, with acc.
      1. 1. To place = facere ut stet; constr. with in and abl., with abl. alone, and with ad, super, etc., and acc.: O qui me gelidis in vallibus Haemi Sistat, Verg. G. 2, 489: tertia lux classem Cretaeis sistet in oris, id. A. 3, 117 (classis stat; v. sto): inque tuo celerem litore siste gradum, Ov. H. 13, 102 (cf. infra, III. 2. A.): jaculum clamanti (al. clamantis) sistit in ore, plants the dart in his face, Verg. A. 10, 323: disponit quas in fronte manus, medio quas robore sistat, Stat. Th. 7, 393: (equum ligneum) sacratā sistimus arā, Verg. A. 2, 245: aeternis potius me pruinis siste, Stat. Th. 4, 395: ut stata (est) lux pelago, as soon as light was set (shone) on the sea, id. ib. 5, 476: victima Sistitur ante aras, Ov. M. 15, 132: quam (suem) Aeneas ubi … sistit ad aram, Verg. A. 8, 85: post haec Sistitur crater, Ov. M. 8, 669: vestigia in altero (monte) sisti (non posse), that no footprints can be placed (made) on the other mountain, Plin. 2, 96, 98, § 211: cohortes expeditas super caput hostium sistit, Tac. H. 3, 77; cf. id. A. 12, 13; Stat. Th. 4, 445; Sil. 4, 612.
      2. 2. To place, as the result of guidance or conveyance; hence, to convey, to send, lead, take, conduct to, = facere ut veniat; constr. with in and abl., with abl. alone, and with advv. of place: officio meo ripā sistetur in illā Haec, will be carried by me to, etc., Ov. M. 9, 109: terrā sistēre petitā, id. ib. 3, 635: (vos) facili jam tramite sistam, Verg. A. 6, 676: ut eum in Syriā aut Aegypto sisterent orabat, to convey him to, Tac. H. 2, 9.
        So with hic (= in with abl.) or huc (= in with acc.): hic siste patrem, Sen. Phoen. 121: Annam huc siste sororem, Verg. A. 4, 634.
      3. 3. To place an army in order of battle, draw up, = instruere: aciem in litore sistit, Verg. A. 10, 309; cf.: sistere tertiam decimam legionem in ipso aggere jubet, Tac. H. 3, 21.
      4. 4. Se sistere = to betake one’s self, to present one’s self, to come (so twice in Cicero’s letters): des operam, id quod mihi affirmasti, ut te ante Kal. Jan., ubicumque erimus, sistas, Cic. Att. 3, 25: te vegetum nobis in Graeciā sistas, id. ib. 10, 16, 6 (cf. infra, E.): hic dea se primum rapido pulcherrima nisu Sistit, Verg. A. 11, 853.
      5. 5. With two acc. (cf.: praesto, reddo) = to cause to be in a certain condition, to place, etc.; often with dat. of interest (ante- and post-class., and poet.; cf. supra, 4.): ego vos salvos sistam, I will place you in safety, see you to a safe place, Plaut. Rud. 4, 4, 5: omnia salva sistentur tibi, all will be returned to you in good order, id. ib. 5, 3, 3; so, suam rem sibi salvam sistam, id. Poen. 5, 2, 123; cf.: rectius tacitas tibi res sistam, quam quod dictum est mutae mulieri, will keep your secrets, id. ib. 4, 2, 54: neque (dotem) incolumem sistere illi, et detraxe autument, that you deliver it entire to her, id. Trin. 3, 3, 15: cum te reducem aetas prospera sistet, Cat. 64, 238: tu modo servitio vacuum me siste (= praesta) superbo, set me free from, Prop. 4, 16 (3, 17), 42: tutum patrio te limine sistam, will see you safe home, Verg. A. 2, 620: praedā onustos triumphantesque mecum domos reduces sistatis, Liv. 29, 27, 3 Weissenb. ad loc.: Pelasgis siste levem campum, Stat. Th. 8, 328: modo se isdem in terris victorem sisterent, Tac. A. 2, 14: operā tuā sistas hunc nobis sanum atque validum, give him back to us, safe and sound, Gell. 18, 10, 7: ita mihi salvam ac sospitem rempublicam sistere in suā sede liceat, Aug. ap. Suet. Aug. 28.
        1. b. Neutr, with double nom., = exsistere, to be, to become: judex extremae sistet vitaeque necisque, he will become a judge, etc., Manil. 4, 548 (dub.): tempora quod sistant propriis parentia signis, id. 3, 529 (dub.; al. sic stant; cf. infra, II.).
    2. B. As neuter verb, to stand, rest, be placed, lie (poet.); constr. like sto: ne quis mihi obstiterit obviam, nam qui obstiterit, ore sistet, will lie on his face, Plaut. Capt. 4, 2, 13 Brix ad loc.: (nemo sit) tantā gloriā … quin cadat, quin capite sistat, will be placed or stand on his head, id. Curc. 2, 3, 8: ibi crebro, credo, capite sistebant cadi, id. Mil. 3, 2, 36 Lorenz (Brix, hoc illi crebro capite): ipsum si quicquam posse in se sistere credis, to rest upon itself, Lucr. 1, 1057: neque posse in terrā sistere terram, nor can the earth rest upon itself, id. 2, 603: at conlectus aquae … qui lapides inter sistit per strata viarum, id. 4, 415: incerti quo fata ferant, ubi sistere detur, to rest, to stay, Verg. A. 3, 7; cf.: quaesitisque diu terris, ubi sistere detur, Ov. M. 1, 307.
    3. C. As jurid. term.
      1. 1. In both a causative and neuter sense = to produce in court, or to appear in court after being bound over by the judge or by promise to the adversary (vadimonium); constr. either absol. or with the dat. of the adversary to whom the promise is made (alicui sisti), to appear upon somebody’s demand; also, in judicio sisti. The present active is either used reflexively (se sistere = to appear), or with a transitive object (sistere aliquem = to produce in court one in whose behalf the promise has been made). The present passive, sisti, sistendus, sistitur, = to appear or to be produced. The perfect act., stiti, stitisse, rarely the perfect passive, status sum, = to have appeared, I appeared. So in all periods of the language: cum autem in jus vocatus fuerit adversarius, ni eo die finitum fuerit negotium, vadimonium ei faciendum est, id est ut promittat se certo die sisti, Gai. 4, 184: fit ut Alfenus promittat, Naevio sisti Quinctium, that Quinctius would be forthcoming upon Naevius’s complaint, Cic. Quint. 21, 67; cf. id. ib. 8, 30 (v. infra, B.): testificatur, P. Quinctium non stitisse, et se stitisse, id. ib. 6, 25: quin puellam sistendam promittat (= fore ut puella sistatur in judicio), Liv. 3, 45, 3: interrogavit quisquam, in quem diem locumque vadimonium promitti juberet, et Scipio manum ad ipsam oppidi, quod obsidebatur, arcem protendens: Perendie sese sistant illo in loco, Gell. 7, 1, 10: si quis quendam in judicio sisti promiserit, in eādem causā eum debet sistere, Dig. 2, 11, 11: si servum in eādem causā sistere promiserit, et liber factus sistatur, … non recte sistitur, ib. 2, 9, 5: sed si statu liberum sisti promissum sit, in eādem causā sisti videtur, quamvis liber sistatur, ib. 2, 9, 6: cum quis in judicio sisti promiserit, neque adjecerit poenam si status non esset, ib. 2, 6, 4: si quis in judicio secundum suam promissionem non stitit, ib. 2, 11, 2, § 1; cf. ib. 2, 5, 1; 2, 8, 2; 2, 11, 2, § 3.
      2. 2. Vadimonium sistere, to present one’s self in court, thus keeping the solemn engagement (vadimonium) made to that effect; lit., to make the vadimonium stand, i. e. effective, opp. deserere vadimonium = not to appear, to forfeit the vadimonium. The phrase does not occur in the jurists of the Pandects, the institution of the vadimonium being abolished by Marcus Aurelius. It is found in the following three places only: quid si vadimonium capite obvoluto stitisses? Cat. ap. Gell. 2, 14, 1: ut Quinctium sisti Alfenus promitteret. Venit Romam Quinctius; vadimonium sistit, Cic. Quint. 8, 30: ut nullum illa stiterit vadimonium sine Attico, Nep. Att. 9; Gai. 4, 185; cf. diem sistere under status, P. a. infra.
    4. D. Transf., out of judicial usage, in gen., = to appear or present one’s self, quasi ex vadimonio; constr. absol. or with dat. of the person entitled to demand the appearance: ubi tu es qui me vadatus’s Veneriis vadimoniis? Sisto ego tibi me, et mihi contra itidem ted ut sistas suadeo (of a lover’s appointment), Plaut. Curc. 1, 3, 5; so, tibi amatorem illum alacrem vadimonio sistam, produce, App. M. 9, p. 227, 14: nam promisimus carnufici aut talentum magnum, aut hunc hodie sistere, Plaut. Rud. 3, 4, 73: vas factus est alter ejus sistendi, ut si ille non revertisset, moriendum esset sibi, Cic. Off. 3, 10, 45.
    5. E. Fana sistere, acc. to Festus anciently used, either = to place (secure and fix places for) temples in founding a city, or to place the couches in the lectisternia: sistere fana, cum in urbe condendā dicitur, significat loca in oppido futurorum fanorum constituere: quamquam Antistius Labeo, in commentario XV. juris pontificii ait fana sistere esse lectisternia certis locis et diebus habere, Fest. p. 267 Lind. To this usage Plaut. perh. alludes: apud illas aedis sistendae mihi sunt sycophantiae, the place about that house I must make the scene of my tricks, Plaut. Trin. 4, 2, 25.
  2. F. Sistere monumenta, etc., or sistere alone, to erect statues, etc. (= statuere; post-class. and rare; mostly in Tac.): ut apud Palatium effigies eorum sisteret, Tac. A. 15, 72: cum Augustus sibi templum sisti non prohibuisset, id. ib. 4 37: at Romae tropaea de Parthis arcusque sistebantur, id. ib. 15, 18: monuere ut … templum iisdem vestigiis sisteretur, id. H. 4, 53: sistere monumenta, Aus. Ep. 24, 55: Ast ego te … Carthaginis arce Marmoreis sistam templis (cf. ἱστάναι τινά), Sil. 8, 231; v. statuo.
  3. II. Sistere = to cause what is tottering or loose to stand firm, to support or fasten; and neutr., to stand firm.
    1. A. Causative (rare; perh. not in class. prose) = stabilire: sucus … mobilis (dentes) sistit, Plin. 20, 3, 8, § 15; and trop.: hic (Marcellus) rem Romanam magno turbante tumultu Sistet (cf.: respublica stat; v. sto), Verg. A. 6, 858; cf.: non ita civitatem aegram esse, ut consuetis remediis sisti posset, Liv. 3, 20, 8 (where sisti may be impers.; v. infra, III. C.).
    2. B. Neutr., to stand firm, to last, = stare: nec mortale genus, nec divum corpora sancta Exiguom possent horai sistere tempus, Lucr. 1, 1016: qui rem publicam sistere negat posse, nisi ad equestrem ordinem judicia referantur, Cotta ap. Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 96, § 223.
      1. 2. Neutr., to stand firm, to resist: nec quicquam Teucros Sustentare valet telis, aut sistere contra, Verg. A. 11, 873; so with dat. = resistere: donec Galba, inruenti turbae neque aetate neque corpore sistens, sella levaretur, Tac. H. 1, 35; cf. sisti = resistere, III. B. 1. f. infra.
  4. III. Sistere = to stand still, and to cause to stand still.
    1. A. Neutr. = stare (rare; in Varr., Tac., and the poets).
        1. a. To stand still: solstitium dictum est quod sol eo die sistere videatur, Varr. L. L. 5, p. 53 (Bip.): sistunt amnes, Verg. G. 1, 479: incurrit, errat, sistit, Sen. Herc. Oet. 248.
        2. b. To remain, stop: Siste! Quo praeceps ruis? Sen. Thyest. 77; id. Oedip. 1050: vis tu quidem istum intra locum sistere? will you remain in that position? Tac. A. 4, 40.
        3. c. Trop., to stop, not to go any farther: depunge, ubi sistam, Pers. 6, 79: nec in Hectore tracto sistere, to stop at the dragging of Hector, Stat. Achill. 1, 7.
        4. d. To cease (dub.): hactenus sistat nefas’ pius est, if his crime ceases here, he will be pious, Sen. Thyest. 744 (perh. act., to stop, end).
    2. B. Causative (not ante-Aug.; freq. in Tac., Plin., and the poets).
      1. 1. To arrest, stop, check an advancing motion.
        1. a. With gradum: plano sistit uterque gradum, arrest their steps, Prop. 5 (4), 10, 36; Verg. A. 6, 465: siste properantem gradum, Sen. Herc. Fur. 772: repente sistunt gradum, Curt. 4, 6, 14.
          With pedem, Ov. R. Am. 80.
        2. b. With fugam, to stop, stay, check, stem, arrest the flight: fugam foedam siste, Liv. 1, 12, 5: si periculo suo fugam sistere posset, id. 30, 12, 1; so Curt. 8, 14, 37; 4, 16, 2; 8, 3, 2; Tac. A. 12, 39.
        3. c. Of vehicles, horses, etc.: esseda siste, Prop. 2, 1, 76: equos, Verg. A. 12, 355: quadrijugos, Stat. Achill. 2, 429; so id. Th. 5, 364.
        4. d. With iter, to arrest the advance of an army, to halt: exercitus iter sistit, Tac. H. 3, 50.
        5. e. With bellum, to halt (cf. infra, D.): Aquilejae sisti bellum expectarique Mucianum jubebat, Tac. H. 3, 8.
        6. f. Of living objects, in gen.
          1. (α) To arrest their course, make them halt: aegre coercitam legionem Bedriaci sistit, Tac. H. 2, 23: festinantia sistens Fata, staying the hurrying Fates, Stat. S. 3, 4, 24.
            So, se sistere with ab, to desist from: non prius se ab effuso cursu sistunt, Liv. 6, 29, 3; hence, to arrest by wounding, i. e. to wound or kill: aliquem cuspide, Sil. 1, 382; 1, 163; so, cervum vulnere sistere, id. 2, 78.
          2. (β) To stop a hostile attack of persons, to resist them, ward them off: ut non sisterent modo Sabinas legiones, sed in fugam averterent, Liv. 1, 37, 3: ibi integrae vires sistunt invehentem se jam Samnitem, id. 10, 14, 18: nec sisti vis hostium poterat, Curt. 5, 3, 11: nec sisti poterant scandentes, Tac. H. 3, 71; 5, 21.
        7. g. Trop., to stop the advance of prices: pretia augeri in dies, nec mediocribus remediis sisti posse, Tac. A. 3, 52.
      2. 2. To arrest the motion of fluids.
        1. a. Of water: sistere aquam fluviis, Verg. A. 4, 489: amnis, siste parumper aquas, Ov. Am. 3, 6, 2: quae concita flumina sistunt, id. M. 7, 154: sistito infestum mare, calm, Sen. Agam. 523; cf. Ov. M. 7, 200; id. H. 6, 87; Plin. 28, 8, 29, § 118.
        2. b. Of blood and secretions: (ea) quibus sistitur sanguis parari jubet, Tac. A. 15, 54: sanguinem, Plin. 20, 7, 25, § 59; 28, 18, 73, § 239; 27, 4, 5, § 18: haemorrhoidum abundantiam, id. 27, 4, 5, § 19: fluctiones, id. 20, 8, 27, § 71, 34, 10, 23, § 105; 35, 17, 57, § 195: nomas, id. 30, 13, 39, § 116; 24, 16, 94, § 151: mensis, id. 23, 6, 60, § 112: vomitiones, id. 20, 20, 81, § 213: alvum bubus, id. 18, 16, 42, § 143: alvum, stop the bowels, id. 23, 6, 60, § 113; 22, 25, 59, § 126; 20, 5, 18, § 37: ventrem, id. 20, 23, 96, § 256; Mart. 13, 116.
      3. 3. To arrest the motion of life, make rigid: ille oculos sistit, Stat. Th. 2, 539.
      4. 4. To end, put an end to (= finem facere alicui rei); pass., to cease: querelas, Ov. M. 7, 711: fletus, id. ib. 14, 835: lacrimas, id. F. 1, 367; 480; 6, 154: minas, id. Tr. 1, 2, 60: opus, id. H. 16 (17), 266; id. M. 3, 153: labores, id. ib. 5, 490: furorem, Stat. Th. 5, 663: furialem impetum, Sen. Med. 157; id. Agam. 203: pace tamen sisti bellum placet, Ov. M. 14, 803: antequam summa dies spectacula sistat, id. F. 4, 387: sitim sistere, to allay, id. P. 3, 1, 18: nec primo in limine sistit conatus scelerum, suppresses, Stat. S. 5, 2, 86: ruinas, to stop destruction, Plin. Pan. 50, 4: ventum, to ward off, turn the wind, id. Ep. 2, 17, 17; (motus terrae) non ante quadraginta dies sistuntur, = desinunt, Plin. 2, 82, 84, § 198.
      5. 5. Sistere with intra = to confine, keep within: transgresso jam Alpes Caecina, quem sisti intra Gallias posse speraverant, Tac. H. 2, 11: dum populatio lucem intra sisteretur, provided the raids were confined to day-time, id. A. 4, 48.
    3. C. Impers. and trop., to arrest or avoid an impending misfortune, or to stand, i. e. to endure; generally in the form sisti non potest (more rarely: sisti potest) = it cannot be endured, a disaster cannot be avoided or met (once in Plaut.; freq. in Liv.; sometimes in Tac.; cf., in gen., Brix ad Plaut. Trin. 720; Drak. ad Liv. 3, 16, 4; Weissenb. ad Liv. 2, 29, 8; Gronov. ad Liv. 4, 12, 6; Beneke ad Just. 11, 1, 6).
      1. 1. Without a subject, res or a noun of general import being understood: quid ego nunc agam, nisi ut clipeum ad dorsum accommodem, etc.? Non sisti potest, it is intolerable, Plaut. Trin. 3, 2, 94: totam plebem aere alieno demersam esse, nec sisti posse nisi omnibus consulatur, Liv. 2, 29, 8: si domestica seditio adiciatur, sisti non posse, the situation will be desperate, id. 45, 19, 3: si quem similem priore anno dedissent, non potuisse sisti, id. 3, 9, 8: vixque concordiā sisti videbatur, that the crisis could scarcely be met, even by harmonious action, id. 3, 16, 4: qualicunque urbis statu, manente disciplinā militari sisti potuisse, these evils were endurable, id. 2, 44, 10: exercitum gravi morbo affectari, nec sisti potuisse ni, etc., it would have ended in disaster, if not, etc., id. 29, 10, 1: qui omnes populi si pariter deficiant, sisti nullo modo posse, Just. 11, 1, 6 Gronov. ad loc.; cf. Liv. 3, 20, 8 supra, II. A. 1.
        Rarely with a subject-clause understood: nec jam sisti poterat, and it was no longer tolerable, i. e. that Nero should disgrace himself, etc., Tac. A. 14, 14.
      2. 2. Rarely with quin, to prevent etc. (pregn., implying also the stopping of something; cf. supra, III. B. 1.): neque sisti potuit quin et palatium et domus et cuncta circum haurirentur (igni), Tac. A. 15, 39.
        Hence, stătus, a, um, P. a., as attribute of nouns, occurs in several conventional phrases, as relics of archaic usage.
    1. A. Status (condictusve) dies cum hoste, in the XII. Tables, = a day of trial fixed by the judge or agreed upon with the adversary; esp., a peregrinus (= hostis), Cic. Off. 1, 12, 37. It presupposes a phrase, diem sistere, prob. = vadimonium sistere (v. supra, I. C. 2.). Such an appointment was an excuse from the most important public duties, even for soldiers from joining the army, Cinc. ap. Gell. 16, 4, 4.
      Hence, transf.: si status condictus cum hoste intercedit dies, tamen est eundum quo imperant, i. e. under all circumstances we must go, Plaut. Curc. 1, 1, 5.
    2. B. In certain phrases, appointed, fixed, regular (cf. statutus, with which it is often confounded in MSS.): status dies: tres in anno statos dies habere quibus, etc., Liv. 39, 13, 8: stato loco statisque diebus, id. 42, 32, 2; so id. 5, 52, 2; 27, 23 fin.: stato lustri die, Sen. Troad. 781: status sacrificii dies, Flor. 1, 3, 16: statum tempus, statā vice, etc.: lunae defectio statis temporibus fit, Liv. 44, 37 init.; so id. 28, 6, 10: stato tempore, Tac. A. 12, 13; id. H. 4, 81; Plin. 11, 37, 65, § 173: stata tempora (partus), Stat. Achill. 2, 673: adeo in illā plagā mundus statas vices temporum mutat, Curt. 8, 19, 13; so id. 9, 9, 9; 5, 1, 23; so, feriae, etc.: feriae statae appellabantur quod certo statutoque die observarentur, Paul. ex Fest. p. 69 Lind.: stata quinquennia, Stat. S. 5, 3, 113: stata sacra or sacrificia: stata sacrificia sunt quae certis diebus fieri debent, Fest. p. 264 Lind.: proficiscuntur Aeniam ad statum sacrificium, Liv. 40, 4, 9; 23, 35, 3; 5, 46, 2; 39, 13, 8; Cic. Mil. 17, 45: solemne et statum sacrificium (al. statutum), id. Tusc. 1, 47, 113; so Liv. 23, 35, 3: stata sacra, Ov. F. 2, 528; Stat. Th. 1, 666: stata foedera, id. ib. 11, 380: status flatus, Sen. Ben. 4, 28: stati cursus siderum, Plin. 18, 29, 69, § 291 (different: statae stellae = fixed stars, Censor. D. N. 8, belonging to II. 2. supra): statae febres, intermittent fevers, returning regularly, Plin. 28, 27, 28, § 107.
    3. C. Moderate, average, normal: inter enim pulcherrimam feminam et deformissimam media forma quaedam est, quae et a nimio pulcritudinis periculo et a summo deformitatis odio vacat, qualis a Q. Ennio perquam eleganti vocabulo stata dicitur … Ennius autem eas fere feminas ait incolumi pudicitia esse quae statā formā forent, Gell. 5, 11, 12-14 (v. Enn. Trag. p. 133 Vahl.).