• parco,
pĕperci, less
freq. parsi (the former constantly in Cic. and Cæs., the latter ante-
class. and post-Aug.: parcui, Naev.
ap. Non. 153, 21, or Com. 69 Rib.;
part. fut. parsurus,
Liv. 26, 13, 16;
Suet. Tib. 62:
parciturus, Hier. Ep. 14, 2), parsum, and less correctly
parcĭtum, 3,
v. n. and a. [for sparco;
Gr. σπαρνός, rare;
cf. Engl. spare; but v. also paucus, parvus],
to act sparingly,
be sparing with respect to a thing,
to spare; constr. usually with
dat. or
absol.; ante-
class. also with
acc. - I. Lit.
- A. Of things (rare but class.).
- α. With dat.: nihil pretio parsit, filio dum parceret, Plaut. Capt. prol. 32: operae meae, id. Mil. 4, 9, 3: te rogo sumptu ne parcas, Cic. Fam. 16, 4, 2: non parcam operae, id. ib. 13, 27, 1: nec impensae, nec labori, nec periculo parsurum, Liv. 35, 44: petit, ne cui rei parcat ad ea perficienda, Nep. Paus. 2, 5.—
- β. Absol.: frumentum se exigue dierum XXX. habere, sed paulo etiam longius tolerare posse parcendo, Caes. B. G. 7, 71, 4.—Poet.: parcens = parcus: parcentes ego dexteras Odi (= parcius administrantes vinum, flores, etc.), Hor. C. 3, 19, 21.—
- γ. With acc. (ante-class. and poet.): oleas, Cato, R. R. 58: pecuniam, Plaut. Curc. 3, 11: argenti atque auri memoras quae multa talenta, Gnatis parce tuis, spare, reserve for your children, Verg. A. 10, 532 Serv.—Prov.: qui parcit virgae odit filium, Vulg. Prov. 13, 24.—
- B. Of persons, to spare, have mercy upon, forbear to injure or punish (eccl. and late Lat.), usually with dat.: non pepercisti filio tuo, Vulg. Gen. 22, 16; id. 2 Pet. 2, 4 et saep.—
- II. Trop.
- A. To spare, i. e. to preserve by sparing, to use carefully, not to injure.
- α. With dat.: tibi parce, Ter. Heaut. 1, 1, 112: justitia autem praecipit, parcere omnibus, consulere generi hominum, Cic. Rep. 3, 12: aedificiis omnibus publicis et privatis, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 54, § 120: amicitiis et dignitatibus, id. Or. 26, 89; id. Phil. 2, 24, 59: non aetate confectis, non mulieribus, non infantibus pepercerunt, Caes. B. G. 7, 28: subjectis, sed debellare superbos, Verg. A. 6, 853: ne reliquis quidem nepotibus parsurus creditur, Suet. Tib. 62: alicujus auribus, i. e. to refrain from speaking on disagreeable topics, Cic. Quint. 12, 40; so, auribus et consuetudini, id. de Or. 3, 43, 170: valetudini, id. Fam. 11, 27, 1: famae, Prop. 1, 16, 11: oculis, i. e. to turn away one's eyes from an unpleasant sight, id. 4, 9, 35: luminibus, Tib. 1, 2, 33; Suet. Dom. 11: parcit Cognatis maculis similis fera, Juv. 15, 159.—
- β. With in and acc. (ante-and post-class.): neque parcit in hostes, Lucr. 6, 399: parce in feminam, App. M. 1, p. 105, 39.—
- γ. Absol. (poet.): thyrso parcente ferit, i. e. lightly, Stat. Ach. 1, 572.—
- B. To abstain or refrain from doing a thing; to forbear, leave off, desist, stop, cease, let alone, omit (cf.: desino, mitto): meo labori non parsi, Cato ap. Fest. p. 242 Müll.; cf. Plaut. Ps. 1, 1, 3; id. Pers. 2, 5, 11; so, neque parcetur labori, Cic. Att. 2, 14, 2: auxilio, to make no use of proffered assistance, id. Planc. 35, 86: lamentis, Liv. 6, 3: bello, abstain from, Verg. A. 9, 656: hibernis parcebant flatibus Euri, id. G. 2, 339: parce metu, cease from, id. A. 1, 257.—
- β. With inf., to refrain, forbear (not in class. prose): visere opera tua, Cato, R. R. 1, 1: hancine ego vitam parsi perdere, Ter. Hec. 3, 1, 2: proinde parce, sis, fidem ac jura societatis jactare, Liv. 34, 32: parcite, oves, nimium procedere, Verg. E. 3, 94: pias scelerare manus, id. A. 3, 42: defundere vinum, Hor. S. 2, 2, 58: ne parce dare, id. C. 1, 28, 23: parce postea paupertatem cuiquam objectare, App. Mag. 23, p. 289, 3; Aug. Ep. 43, 24: ori, to refrain from speaking, Vulg. Job, 7, 11.—*
- γ. With acc.: parcito linguam in sacrificiis dicebatur, i. e. coërceto, contineto, taceto, Fest. p. 222 Müll.—*
- δ. With ab, to desist from: precantes, ut a caedibus et ab incendiis parceretur, Liv. 25, 25, 6; so with abl. alone: caede, Aus. Epigr. 130, 4.