ā , a
I (before consonants), ab(before vowels, h, and some consonants, esp. l, n, r, s), abs(usu. only before t and q, esp. freq. before the pron. te), old af, praep.with abl., denoting separation or departure (opp. ad).
I I. Lit., in space, from, away from, out of.
A A. With motion: ab urbe proficisci, Cs.: a supero mari Flaminia (est via), leads: Nunc quidem paululum, inquit, a sole, a little out of the sun: usque a mari supero Romam proficisci, all the way from; with names of cities and small islands, or with domo, home (for the simple abl; of motion, away from, not out of, a place); hence, of raising a siege, of the march of soldiers, the setting out of a fleet, etc.: oppidum ab Aeneā fugiente a Troiā conditum: ab Alesiā, Cs.: profectus ab Orico cum classe, Cs.; with names of persons or with pronouns: cum a vobis discessero: videat forte hic te a patre aliquis exiens, i. e. from his house, T.; (praegn.): a rege munera repudiare, from, sent by, N.—
B B. Without motion.
1 1. Of separation or distance: abesse a domo paulisper maluit: tum Brutus ab Romā aberat, S.: hic locus aequo fere spatio ab castris Ariovisti et Caesaris aberat, Cs.: a foro longe abesse: procul a castris hostes in collibus constiterunt, Cs.: cum esset bellum tam prope a Siciliā; so withnumerals to express distance: ex eo loco ab milibus passuum octo, eight miles distant, Cs.: ab milibus passuum minus duobus castra posuerunt, less than two miles off, Cs.; so rarely with substantives: quod tanta machinatio ab tanto spatio instrueretur, so far away, Cs.—
2 2. To denote a side or direction, etc., at, on, in: ab sinistrā parte nudatis castris, on the left, Cs.: ab eā parte, quā, etc., on that side, S.: Gallia Celtica attingit ab Sequanis flumen Rhenum, on the side of the Sequani, i. e. their country, Cs.: ab decumanā portā castra munita, at the main entrance, Cs.: crepuit hinc a Glycerio ostium, of the house of G., T.: (cornua) ab labris argento circumcludunt, on the edges, Cs.; hence, a fronte, in the van; a latere, on the flank; a tergo, in the rear, behind; a dextro cornu, on the right wing; a medio spatio, half way.—
II II. Fig.
A A. Of time.
1 1. Of a point of time, after: Caesar ab decimae legionis cohortatione ad dextrum cornu profectus, immediately after, Cs.: ab eo magistratu, after this office, S.: recens a volnere Dido, fresh from her wound, V.: in Italiam perventum est quinto mense a Carthagine, i. e. after leaving, L.: ab his, i. e. after these words, hereupon, O.: ab simili clade domo profugus, i. e. after and in consequence of, L.—
2 2. Of a period of time, from, since, after: ab hora tertiā bibebatur, from the third hour: ab Sullā et Pompeio consulibus, since the consulship of: ab incenso Capitolio illum esse vigesumum annum, since, S.: augures omnes usque ab Romulo, since the time of: iam inde ab infelici pugnā ceciderant animi, from (and in consequence of), L.; hence, ab initio, a principio, a primo, at, in, or from the beginning, at first: ab integro, anew, afresh: ab ... ad, from (a time) ... to: cum ab horā septimā ad vesperum pugnatum sit, Cs.; with nouns or adjectives denoting a time of life: iam inde a pueritiā, T.: a pueritiā: a pueris: iam inde ab incunabulis, L.: a parvo, from a little child, or childhood, L.: ab parvulis, Cs.—
B B. In other relations.
1 1. To denote separation, deterring, intermitting, distinction, difference, etc., from: quo discessum animi a corpore putent esse mortem: propius abesse ab ortu: alter ab illo, next after him, V.: Aiax, heros ab Achille secundus, next in rank to, H.: impotentia animi a temperantiā dissidens: alieno a te animo fuit, estranged; so with adjj. denoting free, strange, pure, etc.: res familiaris casta a cruore civili: purum ab humano cultu solum, L.: (opoidum) vacuum ab defensoribus, Cs.: alqm pudicum servare ab omni facto, etc., II.; with substt.: impunitas ab iudicio: ab armis quies dabatur, L.; or verbs: haec a custodiis loca vacabant, Cs.—
2 2. To denote the agent, by: qui (Mars) saepe spoliantem iam evertit et perculit ab abiecto, by the agency of: Laudari me abs te, a laudato viro: si quid ei a Caesare gravius accidisset, at Caesar's hands, Cs.: vetus umor ab igne percaluit solis, under, O.: a populo P. imperia perferre, Cs.: equo lassus ab indomito, H.: volgo occidebantur: per quos et a quibus?by whose hands and upon whose orders? factus ab arte decor, artificial, O.: destitutus ab spe, L.; (for the sake of the metre): correptus ab ignibus, O.; (poet. with abl.of means or instr.): intumuit venter ab undā, O.—Ab with abl.of agent for the dat., to avoid ambiguity, or for emphasis: quibus (civibus) est a vobis consulendum: te a me nostrae consuetudinis monendum esse puto.—
3 3. To denote source, origin, extraction, from, of: Turnus ab Ariciā, L.: si ego me a M. Tullio esse dicerem: oriundi ab Sabinis, L.: dulces a fontibus undae, V.—With verbs of expecting, fearing, hoping (cf. a parte), from, on the part of: a quo quidem genere, iudices, ego numquam timui: nec ab Romanis vobis ulla est spes, you can expect nothing from the Romans, L.; (ellipt.): haec a servorum bello pericula, threatened by: quem metus a praetore Romano stimulabat, fear of what the praetor might do, L.—With verbs of paying, etc., solvere, persolvere, dare (pecuniam) ab aliquo, to pay through, by a draft on, etc.: se praetor dedit, a quaestore numeravit, quaestor a mensā publicā, by an order on the quaestor: ei legat pecuniam a filio, to be paid by his son: scribe decem (milia) a Nerio, pay by a draft on Nerius, H.; cognoscere ab aliquā re, to know or learn by means of something (but ab aliquo, from some one): id se a Gallicis armis atque insignibus cognovisse, Cs.; in giving an etymology: id ab re ... interregnum appellatum, L.—Rarely with verbs of beginning and repeating: coepere a fame mala, L.: a se suisque orsus, Ta.—
4 4. With verbs of freeing from, defending, protecting, from, against: ut a proeliis quietem habuerant, L.: provincia a calamitate est defendenda: sustinere se a lapsu, L.—
5 5. With verbs and adjectives, to define the respect in which, in relation to, with regard to, in respect to, on the part of: orba ab optimatibus contio: mons vastus ab naturā et humano cultu, S.: ne ab re sint omissiores, too neglectful of money or property, T.: posse a facundiā, in the matter of eloquence, T.; cf. with laborare, for the simple abl, in, for want of: laborare ab re frumentariā, Cs.—
6 6. In stating a motive, from, out of, on account of, in consequence of: patres ab honore appellati, L.: inops tum urbs ab longinquā obsidione, L.—
7 7. Indicating a part of the whole, of, out of: scuto ab novissimis uni militi detracto, Cs.: a quibus (captivis) ad Senatum missus (Regulus).—
8 8. Marking that to which anything belongs: qui sunt ab eā disciplinā: nostri illi a Platone et Aristotele aiunt.—
9 9. Of a side or party: vide ne hoc totum sit a me, makes for my view: vir ab innocentiā clementissimus, in favor of.—10.In late prose, of an office: ab epistulis, a secretary, Ta. Note. Ab is not repeated with a following proninterrog. or relat.: Arsinoën, Stratum, Naupactum ... fateris ab hostibus esse captas. Quibus autem hostibus? Nempe iis, quos, etc. It is often separated from the word which it governs: a nullius umquam me tempore aut commodo: a minus bono, S.: a satis miti principio, L.—The poets join a and que, making āque; but in good prose que is annexed to the following abl.(a meque, abs teque, etc.): aque Chao, V.: aque mero, O.—In composition, ab- stands before vowels, and h, b, d, i consonant, l, n, r, s; abs- before c, q, t; b is dropped, leaving as- before p; ā- is found in āfuī, āfore (inffut. of absum); and au- in auferō, aufugiō.