văco, āvi, ātum, 1 (perf. vacui, Tert. Pall. 4; id. Pud. 8 fin.; id. adv. Val. 9), v. n. [etym. dub.], to be empty, void, or vacant; to be void of, or without; not to contain (class.; cf.: careo, egeo).
I In gen.
A Lit., of space, etc.
1 Absol. : quācumque vacat spatium, quod inane vocamus, Lucr. 1, 507; so, spatium, id. 2, 1053; 6, 1029: inane, id. 1, 520: villa ita completa militibus est, ut vix triclinium ... vacaret, Cic. Att. 13, 52, 1: tota domus superior vacat, id. ib. 13, 12, 10: aedes, Plaut. Cas. 3, 1, 7: maximam putant esse laudem, quam latissime a suis finibus vacare agros, to be uninhabited , uncultivated , Caes. B. G. 4, 3: locus, id. ib. 1, 28; Quint. 8, 6, 18; 9, 4, 118; 10, 3, 33: ostia septem Pulverulenta vacant, septem sine flumine valles, Ov. M. 2, 256: odi cum late splendida cera vacat, id. Am. 1, 11, 20: haec fiunt dum vacat harena, Sen. Ep. 7, 4.—
2 With abl. (so most freq.): illa natura caelestis et terra vacat et umore, Cic. Tusc. 1, 26, 65; cf. id. N. D. 2, 24, 64: mens vacans corpore, id. ib. 1, 10, 25: hoste vacare domos, Verg. A. 3, 123: (domus) quae Igne vacet, Ov. M. 2, 764: custode vacans, id. ib. 2, 422: ora vacent epulis, i. e. abstain from , id. ib. 15, 478: ea pars oppidi, quae fluminis circuitu vacabat, Hirt. B. G. 8, 41. —
3 With ab : haec a custodiis classium loca maxime vacabant, Caes. B. C. 3, 25.—
B Transf., to be vacant. free from , without , unoccupied , etc.
1 With abl.: ejusmodi (nimiis animi) motibus sermo debet vacare, Cic. Off. 1, 38, 136: nulla vitae pars vacare officio potest, id. ib. 1, 2, 4: omni curatione et administratione rerum (dii), id. N. D. 1, 1, 2: studiis, id. de Or. 3, 11, 43: curā et negotio, id. Leg. 1, 3, 8: vitio, id. ib. 3, 3, 10: culpā, id. Fam. 7, 3, 4: criminibus, Quint. 10, 1, 34: febri, Cels. 2, 14 med. : morbis, Dig. 21, 1, 53: amplitudo animi pulchrior, si vacet populo, keeps free from , remains aloof from , Cic. Tusc. 2, 26, 64: respublica et milite illic et pecuniā vacet, be free from the necessity of furnishing , Liv. 2, 48, 9.—
2 With ab and abl.: nullum tempus illi umquam vacabat aut a forensi dictione aut a scribendo, Cic. Brut. 78, 272: (rex) quicquid a bellis populi Romani vacabat, cum hominibus nostris consuetudines jungebat, id. Deiot. 9, 27: a publico officio et munere, id. Div. 2, 2, 7: ab opere (milites), Caes. B. C. 3, 76: ne quando a metu ac periculis vacarent, Liv. 7, 1: vacant ab imbecillis valetudinaria, Col. 12, 3, 8: a culpā, Sen. Ep. 97, 1: a periculo, id. Q. N. 6, 1, 1: a negotiis, Phaedr. 3 prol.—
II In partic.
A To be free from labor , not busied , idle , at leisure; to have leisure or time : quamvis occupatus sis, otii tamen plus habes: aut, si ne tu quidem vacas, noli, etc., Cic. Fam. 12, 30, 1; cf. Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 13, 1; Quint. 10, 3, 27: festus in pratis vacat otioso Cum bove pagus, Hor. C. 3, 18, 11: si vacabis, Cic. Att. 12, 38, 2: si forte vacas, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 95.—
2 After the Aug. per. esp. freq.
a Vacare alicui rei, to be free to attend , apply , or devote one's self to something; to have leisure or time for a thing (cf. studeo): philosophiae, Quinte, semper vaco, Cic. Div. 1, 6, 10: in itinere, quasi solutus ceteris curis, huic uni vacaret, Plin. Ep. 3, 5, 15: huic uni negotio vacare, Vell. 2, 114, 1: ille non vacasse sermoni suo regem causatus discessit, Curt. 6, 7, 21: paulum etiam palaestricis, Quint. 1, 11, 15: studio operis pulcherrimi, id. 12, 1, 4: foro, id. 10, 1, 114: clientium negotiis, Tac. A. 16, 22: non discendo tantum juri, sed etiam docendo, Quint. 12, 1, 10: libellis legendis ac rescribendis, Suet. Aug. 45: queruntur de superiorum fastidio, quod ipsis adire volentibus non vacaverint, have no leisure for them , can not attend to them , Sen. Brev. Vit. 2, 5.—Rarely absol. : dum perago tecum pauca sed apta, vaca, Ov. Am. 2, 2, 2.—
b Vacare ad aliquid: non vaco ad istas ineptias, Sen. Ep. 49, 9; cf. (poet.): in grande opus, Ov. P. 3, 3, 36; also, with inf.: sternere acies, Stat. Th. 8, 185.—
c Vacat (alicui), impers. , there is time , room , or leisure for a thing (poet. and in post-Aug. prose).
α With inf. (so most freq.): si primā repetens ab origine pergam Et vacet annales nostrorum audire laborum, Verg. A. 1, 373: tunc et elegiam vacabit in manus sumere, Quint. 10, 1, 58: non vacabit incohare haec studia, id. 1, 12, 12: hactenus indulsisse vacat, it is permitted , i. q. licet, Verg. A. 10, 625 Heyne; imitated by Sil. 17, 374.—
β With dat., I ( thou , he , etc.) have leisure or time for a thing: nobis venari nec vacat nec libet, Plin. Ep. 9, 16, 1: non vacat exiguis rebus adesse Jovi, Ov. Tr. 2, 216: nec nostris praebere vacet tibi cantibus aures, id. M. 5, 334: obstat enim diligentiae scribendi etiam fatigatio et abunde, si vacet, lucis spatia sufficiunt, Quint. 10, 3, 27: cui esse diserto vacet, id. 11, 1, 50: quo magis te, cui vacat, hortor, etc., Plin. Ep. 1, 10, 11; 8, 15, 1; Curt. 10, 10, 12; Vell. 1, 15, 1; 2, 124, 1.— Absol. : teneri properentur amores, Dum vacat, Ov. Am. 3, 1, 70: si vacat, Juv. 1, 21. —
B Of possessions, lands, etc., to be unoccupied , vacant , ownerless : cum agri Ligustini ... aliquantum vacaret, senatūs consultum est factum, ut is ager viritim divideretur, Liv. 42, 4, 3: fundi possessionem nancisci, quae ex neglegentiā domini vacat, Dig. 41, 3, 37: si nemo sit, bona vacabunt, ib. 38, 7, 2 fin. —
2 Esp., of offices, relations, positions, employments, etc., to be vacant , without incumbent , etc.: si Piso adesset, nullius philosophiae vacaret locus, Cic. N. D. 1, 7, 16: quid enim nostrā victum esse Antonium, si victus est, ut alii vacaret, quod ille obtinuit? may stand open , Brut. ap. Cic. Ep. ad Brut. 1, 17, 6: rogo ut Suram praeturā exornare digneris, cuia locus vacet, Plin. Ep. 10, 12 (7), 1: rogo dignitati... vel auguratum vel septemviratum, quia vacant, adicere digneris, id. ib. 10, 13 (8).— Hence, văcans , antis, P. a.
A Empty , unoccupied , without an owner , vacant : locus, Sen. Cons. ad Marc. 16, 8: metaphora ... vacantem locum occupare debet, Quint. 8, 6, 18: regnum, Just. 42, 4, 2; 25, 2, 4; 27, 3, 1: saltus, Verg. G. 3, 477: balneae, Tac. H. 3, 11: bona, Dig. 30, 1, 93; 30, 1, 111.— Subst.: văcantia , ĭum, n., vacant estates , property without an owner : ut, si a privilegiis parentum cessaretur, velut parens omnium populus vacantia teneret, Tac. A. 3, 28.—
B Of women, single , unmarried , without a husband : qui vacantem mulierem rapuit vel nuptam, Dig. 48, 6, 5; Quint. Decl. 262 (cf. vacua, Ov. H. 20, 149).—
C Of persons, at leisure , unoccupied , idle : nec petiit animum vacantem, Ov. M. 9, 612.— Subst.: văcantĭa , ĭum, n., that which is superfluous , useless (post-class.): vacantia ex quāque re ac non necessariā auferre et excidere, Gell. 6, 5, 6.—Hence, adv.: vă-canter , superfluously , Gell. 17, 10, 16.