MORBIDUS, MORBUS, see _Æger_.
MORIGERARI, see _Parere_.
MOROSUS, see _Austerus_.
MORS; LETUM; NEX; OBITUS; INTERITUS; PERIRE; OPPETERE; DEMORI;
INTERMORI; EMORI. 1. +Mors+ and +letum+ denote a natural death; +mors+
(#moros#) the usual expression in a merely physical sense, as the way to
corruption, like #thanatos#; +letum+ (from #lachein#, #lachesis#,) the
select and solemn expression, as the lot of death, like #oitos#; whereas
+nex+ (from #nekros#) a violent death, as the passive of _cædes_.
2. +Mors+, +letum+, +nex+, are proper, whereas +obitus+ and +interitus+
only softer, expressions. +Obitus+, decease, denotes, like _exitus_, a
natural death; whereas +interitus+, together with +perire+, usually
denotes, like _exitium_, a violent death. Plin. Ep. iii. 7. Silius
ultimus ex Neronianis consularibus _obiit_, quo consule Nero _periit_.
Plaut. Epid. iii. 4, 56. Malo cruciatu _pereas_, atque _obeas_ cito.
3. +Perire+ represents death as destruction and corruption; +interire+
as a vanishing, so that the former applies more to the body, the latter
to the soul. Plaut. Capt. iii. 5, 32. Qui per virtutem _periit_, at non
_interit_; that is, he who dies a noble death, though his body perishes,
still lives in name and posthumous renown. Further, +perire+ denotes a
sudden and violent death, particularly by self-murder; +interire+, a
gradual and painful, but, it may be, also a peaceful, death. Tac. Ann.
xv. 44. Et _pereuntibus_ Christianis addita ludibria, ut ferarum tergis
contecti laniatu canum _interirent_. Serv. ap. Cic. Fam. iv. 5. Si quis
nostrum _interiit_, aut occisus est. 4. +Obire mortem+ denotes to die,
as a physical event, by which one ends all suffering; whereas +oppetere
mortem+ denotes to die, as a moral act, in as far as a man, if he does
not seek death, at any rate awaits it with firmness and contempt of it.
5. +Demori+ denotes to die off, as one belonging to a society, and
thereby to occasion a vacancy; +intermori+, to be apparently dying, to
be sick of a lingering disease, like #ekthanein#; +emori+, to die
entirely, in opp. to a mere semblance of life in misfortune, slavery,
and disgrace, like #pandikôs thanein#. Cic. Pis. 7. Ut _emori_ potius
quam servire præstaret. (iii. 182.)
MOS, see _Consuetudo_.
MOSTELLUM, see _Spectrum_.
MUCRO, see _Acies_.
MULCARE, see _Verberare_.
MULCERE; PALPARE. +Mulcere+ (#mullein#, #malakos#) means to stroke any
thing in itself rough, as the hair, for instance, in order to make it
smooth; thence, figuratively, to pacify an enraged person, like
#katapsên#; whereas +palpare+ (#psêlaphan#, #hapalos#,) to stroke any
thing already smooth, in order to excite a pleasant sensation; thence,
figuratively, to caress and coax, like #psêlaphan#. (v. 109.)
MULCTA, see _Vindicta_.
MULIER, see _Femina_.
MUNDUS, see _Purus_.
MUNIFICUS, see _Largus_.
MUNIMENTA, see _Murus_.
MUNUS, see _Donum_ and _Officium_.
MURUS; PARIES; MOENIA; MACERIA; PARIETINÆ; MUNIMENTA. 1. +Murus+
(#moira#, #meirô#,) denotes any sort of wall, merely with reference to
its form, without reference to its use, like #teichos#; +paries+
(#peirô#) especially a wall, as the side of a building, or as a
partition to separate the rooms, like #toichos#; +moenia+ (#amunô#) the
walls of a city, as a defence against the enemy, like #peribolos#?
+maceria+, the wall of an enclosure, to mark the boundaries and to
exclude thieves, the garden or vineyard wall, like #thrinkos#. Virg. Æn.
vi. 549. _Moenia_ lata videt triplici circumdata _muro_. And Flor. i. 4.
Vitruv. viii. 4. Tac. Ann. xv. 43. Nero instituit, ut urbis domus non
communione _parietum_, sed propriis quæque _muris_ ambirentur.
2. +Muri+, +moenia+, etc., are walls in a good condition; +parietinæ+,
walls that are falling into ruins. 3. +Moenia+ denote walls as a defence
of a city against a first assault; +munimenta+, the proper
fortifications of fortresses and camps, which are of themselves a
bulwark against being taken by storm. (v. 350.)
MUTILARE; TRUNCARE. +Mutilare+ denotes smaller mutilations, such as the
breaking off of horns, the cutting off of a finger, the nose, etc.;
+truncare+ denotes greater mutilations, such as the chopping off of
arms, feet, hands. The _mutilata membra_ may be compared to twigs and
shoots broken off; the _truncata membra_, to principal branches chopped
off. (iv. 325.)
MUTUO, see _Vicissim_.
MUTUUM DARE, see _Commodare_.
MYSTERIA, see _Arcana_.