scale (subs.) Copy link Outline I. The dish of a balanceII. A thin plate1. squāma2. lāmĭna (also contr. lamna, Hor.; a thin plate of metal)III. Regular gradationIV. Standard of proportionV. A graduated instrumentVI. In music, diagramma, ătis, n. • scale (subs.): I. The dish of a balance: lanx, cis, f. (with dimin. lancula, Vitr. 10, 8, 4: Varr.): to depress the s., l. deprimere, Cic. Acad. 2, 12, 37: to put the possessions of the body into one s., those of the soul into the other, in alteram l. animi bona imponere, in alteram corporis, id. Tusc. 5, 17, 51. A pair of s.s, lībra, trŭtĭna: v. balance. The Scales (a constellation), Libra, Manil.: a balance with its two s.s, libra bilanx, Mart. Cap. II. A thin plate: natural or artificial: 1. squāma: covered with s.s (as fishes), squamis obductus, Cic. N. D. 2, 47, 121: applied to scale-armour, Virg. Aen. 11, 771: to s.s of metal struck off by the hammer, Plin. 34, 11, 24 (q. v.). Dimin., squāmŭla: small s.s fall from the surface of the skin, s. ex summa cute decidunt, Cels. 5, 28, 17. 2. lāmĭna (also contr. lamna, Hor.; a thin plate of metal): defensive armour made of iron s.s, tegumen ferreis l. consertum, Tac. H. 1, 79. Phr.: a coat of scale-armour, cataphractes, ib.: fir-cones closely compacted like s.s, nucamenta squamatim compacta, Plin. 16, 10, 19, ad fin. III. Regular gradation: expr. by grădus in pl.: the s. of human society, g. societatis humanae, Cic. Off. 1, 17, 53: v. gradation. IV. Standard of proportion: nearest word mŏdŭlus (cf. Suet. Ner. 49): maps on a larger s., *tabulae ampliore modulo descriptae: sometimes also merely expr. by adj. of size; a war on a grander s., majus bellum, Liv. 21, 2. Phr.: a covered passage almost on the s. of a public building, cryptoporticus prope publici operis instar, Plin. Ep. 2, 17, 16: there was never an engagement on a vaster s., non alias majore mole concursum, Tac. A. 2, 46. V. A graduated instrument: *scāla (geometrica, etc.): (Kr.): v. measure. VI. In music, diagramma, ătis, n.: Vitr. 5, 4, 1: the s. from base to treble, scansio sonorum, id. 6, 1, 6: also, octăchordum (a system of 8 notes), Boëth. Mus. 5, 14; *scala, Kircher, Musurg. vol. i. p. 214 (Rome. 1650). Phr.: to run down the s., vocem ab acutissimo sono usque ad gravissimum sonum recipere, Cic. de Or. 1, 59, 251: (cf. omnes sonorum gradus persequi, id. Or. 18, 59). (N.B.--As the ancient system of music differed fundamentally from the modern, it is impossible to expr. in class. lang. a major or minor s. [*scala major, minor, quam vocant]: these terms are however used: a chromatic s., chroma; a diatonic s., diatonum; an enharmonic s., enharmonicum, Boëth. On the whole subj., v. Dict. Ant. art. "Music.")