so (adv. and <i | Smith & Hall | Morcus Latin Tools

• so (adv. and conj.):

I. Demonstrative:

A. With reference to what precedes: in the manner described, in this manner:

1. sīc: a blessing on thy valour, boy! so do men go heavenwards, macte virtute puer: s. itur ad astra, Virg. Aen. 9, 641: Laelius, a philosopher; for so he was, L. sapiens, sic enim est habitus, Cic.
2. ĭtă: I say that the young man in question was ill several days, and so died, dico illum adolescentem aliquot dies aegrotasse et i. esse mortuum, id. Clu. 60, 168: I do not see any reason why it should be so, non video causam cur i. sit, Cic. Att. 9, 2 (b.), 2. Special Phr.: (i.) to be so: it is s., ita est, Cic. pass.: sic est, Hor.: sic res est, Ter.: res ita se habet, Cic.: sic res se habet, id.: sic habet, Hor. S. 1, 9, 53: matters being so, quae quum ita sint, Cic.: quae cum res ita se haberet, id.: to be not so, aliter esse, id.: aliter se habere, Caes.: it must be so, fieri non potest aliter, Cic. (ii.) be it so (or so be it). (1.) esto: v. to grant (II.). (2.) fiat: go with me this way, I beg. Be it so, i mecum hac, obsecro. Fiat, Plaut.: v. also to grant (II.) (iii.) to do so: (α.) Expressed: (1.) expr. by facere id (esp. to avoid repetition of a previous statement): it would be tedious were I to tell you why I do so, longum est si tibi narrem quamobrem id faciam, Ter. Heaut. 2, 3, 94. Also facio, absol.: I have done so before, and I do so now, et feci ante et facio nunc, Cic. Fam. 15, 14, 3: v. also infr. (IX.). (2.) when a verb is repeated, the latter verb may be rendered "to do so": the senate decreed that those should preside over the provinces who had not already done so, senatus eos voluit praeesse provinciis qui non praefuissent, Cic. Att. 6, 6, 3. (β.) Unexpressed: N.B.--To do so may sometimes be implied in Latin from the context: e. g., the woman believes she cannot on any account do so, illa enim se negat (supply facturam esse from a previous facere), Ter. Ph. 1, 2, 63 (L. G. § 654): he was just plunging his sword into his bosom (supply and would have done so), had not, etc., gladium in pectus deferebat, ni, etc., Tac. (L. G. § 396): how are you to find men of that class who love you sincerely, instead of pretending to do so for their own advantage? qui potes reperire ex eo genere hominum qui te ament ex animo ac non sui commodi causa simulent? (supply te amare), Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 5, 15. (iv.) how or why so? quid ita? Cic.: or simply, quid (v. how, I., 5): quamobrem tandem? (Ainsw.). (v.) just so or precisely so (in answers): ita plane, etc. (v. exactly, III.). (vi.) Miscell.: by chance, say you: do you really think so (or is it really so), casu, inquis? itane vero? Cic.: you don't say so, quid ais: others perhaps do not think so, aliis fortasse non idem videtur (Ainsw.): he thinks he may do so, idem sibi arbitratur licere (Ainsw.): if that be true, then this is so, si illud, hoc, Cic. Fin. 4, 19, 55: there is a class of people who will have it that they are first in everything, but are not so, est genus hominum qui esse primos se omnium rerum volunt, nec sunt, Ter. (cf. L. G. § 432): D. Is this as I say? L. It is even so, Estne hoc ut dico? Ea res est, Pl. Asin. 1, 1, 41: Heaven grant it may be so, Dii faxint: Dii faciant: utinam Dii faxint ut s. ne, etc.: Dii bene vertant: Cic. pass.

B. With reference to what follows: in the following manner, as follows:

1. sīc (with acc. and inf. clause): strive and so hold (the theory) that thou art not mortal, but that this body is, enitere et s. habeto, non esse te mortalem, sed corpus hoc, Cic. Rep. 6, 24 (8), 26: he replies that in the oracular books, in Etruscan lore it is so recorded that, etc., respondit sic libris fatalibus, sic disciplina Etrusca traditum esse (folld. by acc. and inf.), Liv. 5, 15, ad fin.
2. ĭtă (with acc. and inf. clause): for so he wrote to me that, etc., i. enim scripsit ad me (folld. by acc. and inf.), Cic. Fam. 13, 24, 1.
3. tālia (neut. absol.: poet.) so speaks he, t. fatur, Virg. pass. (N.B.--In prose, in hunc modum, ad hunc modum would be used.)

II. Correlative: as ... so:

1. ut ... (folld. by ita, sic): as the laws preside over magistrates, so do magistrates over the people, ut magistratibus leges, ita populo praesunt magistratus, Cic. Leg. 3, 1, 2: as there are two species of kings (queen-bees), so there are two sorts among their subjects, ut binae regum facies, ita corpora gentis, Virg. G. 4, 95: as you must walk, must anoint yourself, so must I sleep, ut tibi ambulandum, unguendum, sic mihi dormiendum (est), Cic. Att. 9, 7, 7. For velut ... sic, v. as (I., 9): for sicut ... ita, item, v. Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. sicut, I., 2, ii.: I., 1, ii.: and for prout ... ita, ita ... prout, v. id. s. v. prout.
2. ita ... ut (not sic ... ut, wh. = as ... as or as: cf. Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. sic, II.): and so may Heaven love me as I am delighted not so much on my own account as on his, atque i. me di ament ut ego nunc non tam meapte causa laetor quam illius, Ter. Heaut. 4, 3, 8.
3. quemadmŏdum ... sic: if, as you generally argue on other subjects, so you should have argued about friendship, si q. soles de ceteris rebus, sic de amicitia disputaris, Cic. Am. 4, 16. For quemadmodum (with ita, item, etc.), v. Smith's Dict. s. v. II., 2: and for quomodo ... sic, v. id. s. v. quomodo, II., ii.
4. tālis ... quālis: in order that as we really are, so we may seem to be, ut q. simus, t. esse videamur, Cic.
5. quum ... tum: v. as (I., 13). [May also be freq. expr. by such phrr. as, tum ... tum, et ... et, where the usual rendering "both ... and" would be clumsy.] N.B.--(In proportion) as ... so, expr. by quo ... eo (with comp.): also by tanto ... quanto (with comp.), Hor. S. 2, 7, 18.

III. Consecutive: and so, so then:

1. ĭtăque (and so) v. accordingly: and Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v.
2. ĭtă (used logically): now virtue is full of activity, and your deity inactive: consequently without share in virtue, and so not even happy, virtus autem actuosa est, et deus vester nihil agens: expers igitur virtutis: ita ne beatus quidem, Cic. N. D. 1, 40, 110.
3. ergō (in Ov. and the post-Aug. poets sometimes ergŏ), Cic. pass. Join: itaque e., Liv. 9, 31: Ter.
4. ĭgĭtur: but the postman is pressing, so good-bye, sed flagitat tabellarius, valebis igitur, Cic. Ep. (L. G. § 398). Join: ergo i., Plaut.: Ter. (N.B.--Itaque differs from igitur, ergo, etc., in not being used like them to draw a strictly logical conclusion.)
5. quĕ: and you do not find an escape, and so the whole state staggers, nec vos exitum reperitis, totaque res vacillat, Cic. N. D. 1, 38, 107: cf. pubescant maturitatemque assequantur quae oriuntur e terra, ib. 2, 19, 50. Cf. too, et igitur, igiturque, et ergo, et ideo, ideoque (Georg.): v. also therefore. (N.B.--So then may be expr. by quamobrem, quapropter, quare, quocirca, etc.: v. wherefore.)

IV. Of Manner or Result: so ... that, so ... as, so that, so as:

1. ĭtă ... ut: so it results that reason presides, passion obeys, i. fit ut ratio praesit, appetitus obtemperet, Cic. Off. 1, 28, 101: v. also thus: let us always so live as to believe that we must render up an account, semper i. vivamus ut rationem reddendam (esse) nobis arbitremur, Cic. (L. G. § 294).
2. sīc ... ut (more rarely): so (= in such a manner), Scipio, practise virtue as thy grandsire did, sic, S., ut avus hic tuus justitiam cole, Cic. Rep. 6, 15, 15, fin.
3. ut: by exercise Demosthenes succeeded so that no one was considered to have been a plainer speaker than he, D. perfecit meditando, ut nemo planius eo locutus putaretur, Cic. (L. G. § 457). Phr.: the infantry were hurrying along so as to look like a body of runaways, peditum agmen in modum fugientium agebatur, Liv. 21, 41, post init.: and so, quo factum est ut, qua re factum est ut.

V. Of the Purpose:

A. Affirmative: so that = in order that, so as to:

1. ŭt: they resolved to make as large sowings as possible so that (= in order that) there might be a supply of corn at hand on the march, constituerunt sementes quam maximas facere, ut in itinere copia frumenti suppeteret, Caes. B. G. 1, 3.
2. quō: a law ought to be short, so that (= in order that) it may the more easily be grasped by the unlettered, legem brevem esse oportet, quo facilius ab imperitis teneatur, Cic.
3. qui (quae, quod): words were invented so as to denote the will, verba reperta sunt quae indicarent voluntatem, Cic.
4. dum (= so that meanwhile): the siege then took the form of a blockade rather than an assault for a few days, so that meanwhile the general's wound might be cured, obsidio deinde per paucos dies magis quam oppugnatio fuit dum vulnus ducis curaretur, Liv. (L. G. § 497). See also that, until.

B. Negative:

1. nē (= ut non, quo non): I am reluctant to be an applauder, so that I may not seem a flatterer, nolo esse laudator ne videar adulator, Auct. Her. 4, 21, 29.
2. ut ne (more rarely: v. Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. ne, 5).
3. quīn, quōmĭnus: nor did he think that savages as they were, they would keep a check upon themselves, so as not, etc., neque sibi homines feros temperaturos existimabat, quin, etc., Caes. B. G. 1, 33: v. also L. G. §§ 461, 463.

VI. Of Extent or Degree:

A. So (followed by as or that):

1. ĭta ... ut (ĭta gen. with verbs, adjj., or advv.): (a.) so exceedingly: all the news that is bought from your quarter is so uncertain that I cannot tell what to write, i. erant omnia quae isthinc afferebantur incerta ut quid ad te scriberem non occurreret, Cic. Ep. (L. G. §§ 398, 404, q. v., for the epistolary tenses): but there are some so unmusical that they cannot come into the number of orators, sed sunt quidam i. voce absoni ut in oratorum numerum venire non possint, Cic.: this indeed so inflames their minds that, etc., id vero i. accendit animos ut, etc., Liv. 6, 14, post med.: cf. Cic. Verr. 1, 4, 12. (b.) so little: they triumphed, it is true, yet so (little) that the other, routed and overpowered though he was, was still a sovereign, i. triumpharunt ut ille pulsus superatusque regnaret, Cic. Manil. 3, 8: that the state is not so (little) ill that it can be propped up by usual remedies, non i. civitatem aegram esse ut consuetis remediis sisti possit, Liv. 3, 20, fin.
2. sīc ... ŭt (very seldom found with adjj.): his province is full of the bravest men so (= to such an extent) that none in the whole of Italy can be called more peopled (with them), hujus praefectura plena est virorum fortissimorum sic, ut nulla tota Italia frequentior dici possit, Cic.
3. ădeō ... ŭt: so inexperienced in matters as to trust, etc., a. imperitus rerum, ut, etc., Caes. B. G. 5, 27, med.: Hannibal was so straitened by want of means that, etc., a. inopia est coactus H., ut, etc., Liv. 22, 32, post init.: but v. Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. adeo: and for usque eo ... ut, v. id. s. v. usque, III., ii.
4. tam ... (folld. by quam, qui, or ut): nothing seems to Xenophon so princely as the pursuit of tilling the soil, nihil Xenophonti t. regale videtur q. studium agri colendi, Cic.: who is so sharp-sighted as not to stumble at all in such darkness as this? quis est t. lynceus qui in tantis tenebris nihil offendat? Cic. Fam. 9, 2, 2: nor were we so mad as to, etc., neque t. dementes eramus ut, etc., Cic.
5. tantus ... (folld. by quantus, ut, qui): I never saw so large a meeting as yours now is, nullam unquam vidi tantam (contionem) quanta nunc vestra est, Cic.: he was not so great a man that, etc., non fuit t. homo ut, etc., id.: they determined that that crime was so atrocious that it ought not to be concealed, statuerunt t. illud esse maleficium quod non occultari deberet, id. (N.B.--In Cic. Fam. 1, 7, 4, tantus ... ut = so little ... that: the authority of the decree of the senate has so little force that, etc., auctoritas [senatus-consulti] t. vim habet ut, etc.)
6. aeque (with atque, ac, et, ac si: v. Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. aeque): but very rarely with quam or ut: e. g., nothing frightened them so much as the vigour and complexion of the general, nihil a. eos terruit quam robur ac color imperatoris, Liv. (v. as, I., 3): in pleading nothing pleases him so much as brevity, ei nihil a. in causis agendis ut brevitas placet, Plin. (v. AS, I., 7). Phr.: I am not so strong as either of you, minus habeo virium quam vestrum uterque (Ainsw.): not so large as was looked for, exspectatione minor, Quint.: non pro exspectatione magnus (Ainsw.): not so much booty as they had anticipated, minus praedae quam exspectaverant, Liv.: I am so fatigued that I must take a bath, prae lassitudine opus est ut lavem, Pl. Truc. 2, 3, 7: since Ariovistus repaid himself and the Roman people so little thanks that, etc., quoniam A. hanc sibi populoque gratiam referret ut, etc., Caes. B. G. 1, 35, 2: that that was not so good a time that, etc., non id tempus esse ut, etc., Liv. 2, 29, post med.: by this time the state of affairs in Latium was so sad that, etc., jam Latio is status erat rerum ut, etc., id. 8, 13, init. Special Phr.: be so good as, etc.: expr. by amabo s. amabo te (parenthetically): assist me in this, be so good (or be so good as to, etc.), id, amabo, adjuta me, Ter. Eun. 1, 2, 70: hasten hither, be so good (or pray), a. te, advola, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 10, 4. Also with ut or ne: be so good as to cross over to there, a. ut illuc transeas, Ter. Eun. 3, 3, 31: be so good as not to put it down to want of principle on my part, a. te ne improbitati meae assignes, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 4, 1. Also less colloq. by circuml.: be so good as to hear me (lit. by your good leave you will hear me), bona venia me audies, Cic. N. D. 1, 21, 59. Also expr. by subj. of volo (foll. by a verb in the subj. with or without ut): be so good as to answer me this, velim uti respondeas, Cic.

B. So (absol., without as or that: = so very, so much, some clause being understood):

1. ĭtă (after non, haud = admodum): those statues are very magnificent and admirable, but not so (very) old, sunt ea (simulacra) perampla et praeclara sed non i. antiqua, Cic.: not so much corn, haud i. multum frumenti, Liv.
2. sīc (very rarely): they were unwilling to throw a body to wild beasts, not so (much so) to fling naked persons into the river, noluerunt feris corpus objicere, non s. nudos in flumen dejicere, Cic. Rosc. Am. 26, 71. Cf. sīccĭnĕ: will you go so untidy as you are? s. immunda ibis? Plaut.: s. (or to such an extent) do you allow your soldier and chieftain to be harassed by personal foes? s. vestrum militem ac praesidem sinitis vexari ab inimicis? Liv. 6, 16, ad init.
3. ădeō (with the indic.: the ut being omitted, and the consequent clause being placed first): the state of affairs compelled him to delay, so headlong had his colleague gone in the opposite course, tergiversari res cogebat, a. in alteram causam collega praeceps ierat, Liv. 2, 27, post init.
4. tam (with adjj., advv., and verbs): see Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. II.: cf. tantus, id. s. v.
5. tantŏpĕre: Cic.: Caes.
6. tālis: so excellent a man, t. vir, Cic. pass.: so atrocious a crime, t. facinus, Caes.: at so critical a time, t. tempore, Liv.: Virg.
7. ille: I once so free, so proud, was silent, i. ego liber, i. ferox, tacui, Ov.
8. expr. freq. by superl.: the integrity of so high-principled a man, gravissimi hominis fides, Cic. Special Phr.: not so (with posit. adj.) may be expr. by minus with adj.: e. g. thus rule ever passes into the hands of the best men in every case from one not so good, ita imperium semper ad optimum quemque a minus bono transfertur, Sall. C. 2, med.

C. Ever so: expr. by quamvis, quantumvis, quamlibet, etc. (v. however, II.). Also by licet (with superl. adj. and subj. of sum): be men ever so rich, homines licet divitissimi sint (Georg.).

VII. Conditional:

1. dum: let them hate, so they fear, oderint d. metuant, Cic.: cf. dummodo, modo si, modo: v. Smith's Lat. Dict. s. vv. dum (III.), modo (I., 2, iii.), and L. G. § 498: v. also provided (that).
2. sīc ... si (very rarely): so you dine with me I'll forgive you, s. ignovisse putato me tibi, si cenas mecum, Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 69.

VIII. In Adjurations or Wishes:

1. ĭtă (= so, so truly): so may heaven love me, he is a fine gentleman, i. me dii ament, honestus est, Ter. Eun. 3, 2, 21: (v. also Smith's Lat. Dict. s. v. ita, 7).
2. sīc (= οὕτως: only poet.): so may thy swarms flee yews of Cyrne, s. tua Cyrneas fugiant examina taxos, Virg. E. 9, 30: cf. s. te diva potens Cypri, s. fratres Helenae ventorumque regat pater, Hor. Od. 1, 3, 1.

IX. As an Expletive. [N.B.--So, though required in English to complete the sense, need not sometimes be expressed by a Latin equivalent]: as true as I live I thought so, ita vivam, putavi, Cic.: old age is naturally somewhat talkative, so you will not charge me with defending it from every fault, senectus est natura loquacior, ne ab omnibus eam vitiis videar vindicare (where, after loquacior, hoc dico or some such expression is understood: I say this that I may not appear, etc.), Cic. Sen. 16, 55: nor shall you say that no previous notice was given you, so be on your guard, neque tu hoc dices tibi non praedictum, cave, Ter. And. 1, 2, 34: he had placed his catapults at different points and so had cleared the walls of their defenders, catapultis dispositis muros defensoribus nudaverat, Liv.

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