stupefacio
διὸ δὴ πᾶς ἀνὴρ σπουδαῖος τῶν ὄντων σπουδαίων πέρι πολλοῦ δεῖ μὴ γράψας ποτὲ ἐν ἀνθρώποις εἰς φθόνον καὶ ἀπορίαν καταβαλεῖ → And this is the reason why every serious man in dealing with really serious subjects carefully avoids writing, lest thereby he may possibly cast them as a prey to the envy and stupidity of the public | Therefore every man of worth, when dealing with matters of worth, will be far from exposing them to ill feeling and misunderstanding among men by committing them to writing
Latin > English (Lewis & Short)
stŭpĕ-făcĭo: fēci, factum, 3, v. a. stupeo,
I to make stupid or senseless, to benumb, deaden, stun, stupefy (rare; usu. in the part. perf.).
(a) In verb. fin.: privatos luctus stupefecit publicus pavor, Liv. 5, 39; Sil. 9, 122.—Pass.: ut nostro stupefiat Cynthia versu, Prop. 2, 13 (3, 4), 7.—
(b) In part. perf., stupefied, stunned: quem stupefacti dicentem intuentur? * Cic. de Or. 3, 14, 53: spectas tuam stupefacta figuram, Ov. H. 14, 97: ingenti motu stupefactus aquarum, Verg. G. 4, 365; Sen. Thyest. 547; Luc. 4, 633; Val. Fl. 6, 228.
