descriptio
ἐν πίθῳ ἡ κεραμεία γιγνομένη → trying to run before you can walk, the potter's art starting on a big jar
Latin > English (Lewis & Short)
dēscriptĭo: ōnis (in MSS. and edd. often confounded with discriptio,
I
v. infra), f. describo (freq. in Cic.), a marking out, delineation, copy, transcript: in concreto.
I Lit. (rare): eadem caeli descriptio, Cic. Rep. 6, 22; cf. id. ib. 1, 14: explicate descriptionem imaginemque tabularum, id. Verr. 2, 2, 77 fin. In plur.: numeris aut descriptionibus aliquid explicare, id. Tusc. 1, 17: volutarum, sketches, drawings, Vitr. 3, 3: orbis terrarum, maps, id. 8, 2 et saep. —Far more freq.,
II Trop.
A A representation, delineation, description: nominis brevis et aperta descriptio, Cic. Inv. 2, 18: dilucida locorum, Quint. 9, 2, 44: regionum, id. 4, 3, 12: Siciliae, id. 11, 3, 164: convivii luxuriosi, id. 8, 3, 66 et saep.—In rhetor., the delineating of character, Cic. Top. 22, 83; id. de Or. 3, 53, 205; Quint. 9, 1, 31; cf. Auct. Her. 4, 39, 51.—
B A proper disposition, order, arrangement: via descriptionis atque ordinis (in oratione), id. de Or. 2, 9, 36: aedificandi, id. Off. 1, 39; legionum et auxiliorum, Suet. Tib. 30: descriptio centuriarum classiumque non erat, Liv. 4, 4, 2: populi, Vulg. 2 Reg. 24, 9.—In plur.: descriptiones temporum, id. Ac. 1, 3, 19 et saep. (Descriptio is often found in MSS. and edd. in the sense of distribution, division; but here the proper form is discriptio, e. g. Cic. Rep. 2, 22; id. de Off. 1, 7, 21 saep.)>
Latin > French (Gaffiot 2016)
dēscrīptĭō,¹² ōnis, f. (describo),
1 reproduction, copie : Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 190
2 dessin, tracé : orbis terrarum Vitr. Arch. 8, 2, carte du monde ; ædificandi Cic. Off. 1, 138, tracé de construction, plan ; numeri aut descriptiones Cic. Tusc. 1, 38, les nombres ou les figures de géométrie || eadem descriptio cæli Cic. Rep. 6, 24, la même figure du ciel
3 description : locorum Cic. Part. 43 ; Quint. 9, 2, 44, description des lieux ; convivii Quint. 8, 3, 66, d’un festin || [rhét.] description d’un caractère, peinture des mœurs : Cic. Top. 83
4 délimitation, détermination : magistratuum Cic. Leg. 3, 5 ; 3, 12, la fixation des fonctions des magistrats, cf. Div. 1, 31 ; centuriarum Liv. 4, 4, 2, la fixation des centuries ; quæ erit totius rei ratio atque descriptio ? Cic. Agr. 1, 16, quel sera le plan, le dessin de toute l’affaire ? || définition : philosophi est quædam descriptio Cic. de Or. 1, 212, il y a une définition du philosophe ; officii Cic. Off. 1, 101, détermination, définition du devoir. v. discriptio et la remarque à la fin de describo.
