ac-cĭpĭo, cēpi, ceptum, 3, v. a. (fut. perf. accepso = accepero, Pac. ap. Non. 74, 31, or Rib. Trag. Rel. 118) [capio], to accept.
I In gen., to take a person or thing to one's self: leno ad se accipiet hominem et aurum, will take the man and his money to himself (into his house), Plaut. Poen. 1, 1, 51.
a Of things received by the hand, to take , receive : cette manus vestras measque accipite, Enn. ap. Non. 85, 1 (Trag. v. 320 ed. Vahl.): ex tua accepi manu pateram, Plaut. Amph. 2, 2, 132; hence, trop. of the word given, the promise , with which a grasping of the hand was usually connected: accipe daque fidem, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 6, 1 (Ann. v. 33 ed. Vahl.; so in the Gr. πιστὰ δοῦναι καὶ λαβεῖν); cf. Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 87; so Verg. A. 8, 150; in Ter. of a person to be protected: hanc (virginem) accepi, acceptam servabo, Ter. And. 297; cf. Cic. Fam. 7, 5, and Sall. C. 6, 5, —
b Of things received or taken by different parts of the body: accipite hoc onus in vestros collos, Cato ap. Non. 200, 23: gremio, Verg. A. 1, 685: oculis aut pectore noctem (i. e. somnum), id. ib. 4, 531.—
c In gen., very freq.,
α as implying action, to take , to take possession of , to accept (Gr. δέχεσθαι);
β of something that falls to one's share, to get , to receive , to be the recipient of (Gr. λαμβάνειν).—
α To take , accept : hanc epistulam accipe a me, take this letter from me , Plaut. Ps. 2, 2, 52; 4, 2, 26; cf. id. Ep. 3, 4, 26: persuasit aliis, ut pecuniam accipere mallent, Cic. Off. 2, 23, 82: condicionem pacis, Caes. B. G. 2, 15: armis obsidibusque acceptis Crassus profectus est, after he had taken into his possession the arms and hostages , id. ib. 3, 23: divitias, Nep. Epam. 4, 3: aliquid a patre, to inherit , id. Timo th. 1, 1; id. Att. 1: accipe et haec, manuum tibi quae monumenta mearum sint, Verg. A. 3, 486 al.—Hence to receive or entertain as guest : haec (tellus) fessos placidissima portu accipit, Verg. A. 3, 78: Laurentes nymphae, accipite Aenean, id. ib. 8, 71; 155; Ov. M. 8, 655 al.—Of admittance to political privileges: Nomentani et Pedani in civitatem accepti, Liv. 8, 14; cf. Cic. Off. 1, 11, 35: magnifice volo summos viros accipere, Plaut. Ps. 1, 2, 34: in loco festivo sumus festive accepti, id. ib. 5, 1, 9; so id. Cist. 1, 1, 12; id. Men. 5, 2, 44; id. Pers. 1, 1, 32, etc.; Ter. Eun. 1082; Lucr. 3, 907; Cic. Att. 16, 6; Ov. F. 2, 725 al.—Hence also ironically, to entertain , to treat , deal with : ego te miseris jam accipiam modis, Plaut. Aul. 4, 4, 3: hominem accipiam quibus dictis maeret, id. Men. 5, 1, 7: indignis acceptus modis, Ter. Ad. 166. Perh. also Lucil. ap. Non. 521, 1: adeo male me accipiunt decimae, treat or use me ill , deal harshly with me; and ib. 240, 8: sic, inquam, veteratorem illum vetulum lupum Hannibalem acceptum (Non. explains the latter in a very unusual manner, by deceptum ).—
β To get , to receive , to be the recipient of , Pac. ap. Non. 74, 31; Lucr. 1, 819, 909; 2, 762, 885, 1009: ictus, id. 4, 1048 (cf. Verg. A. 3, 243: vulnera accipiunt tergo): aridior nubes accipit ignem, takes or catches fire , Lucr. 6, 150; Caes. B. G. 1, 48: humanitatem iis tribuere debemus, a quibus accepimus, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 9: pecuniam ob rem judicandam, id. Verr. 1, 38: luna lumen solis accipit, id. de Or. 3, 45; cf. Hor. Ep. 1, 10, 17: praeclarum accepimus a majoribus morem, Cic. Off. 3, 10, 44: praecepta, Caes. B. G. 2, 6: accepi tuas litteras (in another sense than above), I have received your letter , it has reached me (allatae sunt ad me), Cic. Fam. 1, 9, 14; 2, 1, 1; 10, 1 al.: acceptā injuriā ignoscere quam persequi malebant, Sall. C. 9, 3; Caes. B. G. 2, 33: calamitatem, id. ib. 1, 31: detrimenta, id. ib. 5, 22; cf. Cic. Mur. 21, 44 al. So often of dignities and offices: provinciam, id. Fam. 2, 10, 2: consulatum, Suet. Aug. 10: Galliam, id. Caes. 22 al.
II In partic.
A To take a thing by hearing, i. e.,
1 To hear , to perceive , to observe , to learn (cf. opp. do = I give in words, i. e. I say ): hoc simul accipe dictum, Enn. ap. Cic. Off. 1, 12, 38 (Ann. v. 204): quod ego inaudivi, accipite, Pac. ap. Non. 126, 22 (Rib. Trag. Rel. p. 81): hoc etiam accipe quod dico, Lucil. ap. Non. 240, 1: carmen auribus, Lucr. 4, 983 (so id. 6, 164); 1, 270; cf. Verg. A. 2, 65: voces, Lucr. 4, 613 (so 6, 171): si te aequo animo ferre accipiet, Ter. And. 397: quae gerantur, accipies ex Pollione, Cic. Fam. 1, 6; 1, 9, 4; Liv. 1, 7. —Hence very freq. in the histt., to get or receive intelligence of any thing, to learn : urbem Romam, sicuti ego accepi, condidere atque habuere initio Trojani, as I have learned , Sall. C. 6, 1, and so al.—
2 To comprehend or understand any thing communicated : haud satis meo corde accepi querelas tuas, Plaut. Cas. 2, 2, 18: et si quis est, qui haec putet arte accipi posse, Cic. de Or. 1, 25, 114: ut non solum celeriter acciperet, quae tradebantur, etc., Nep. Att. 1, 3; so Quint. 1, 3, 3; 2, 9, 3 al.—
3 With the accessory idea of judging, to take a thing thus or thus , to interpret or explain , usually constr. with ad or in c. acc. : quibus res sunt minus secundae . . . ad contumeliam omnia accipiunt magis, the more unfortunate one is , the more inclined is he to regard every thing as an insult , Ter. Ad. 606: in eam partem accipio, id. Eun. 876; cf. Cic. Fam. 10, 6; id. Att. 16, 6; Ter. Eun. 82: non recte accipis, you put a wrong construction upon this , id. And. 367: quae sibi quisque facilia factu putat, aequo animo accipit, Sall. C. 3, 2.— Hence: accipere aliquid omen, or in omen, to regard a thing as a ( favorable ) omen , to accept the omen (cf. δέχεσθαι τὸν οἰωνόν), Cic. Div. 1, 46, 103; 2, 40, 83; Liv. 1, 7, 11; 21, 63 fin. ; Tac. H. 1, 62; id. A. 1, 28; 2, 13; Flor. 4, 12, 14 al.—Hence poet.: accipio agnoscoque deos, Verg. A. 12, 260; cf. Ov. M. 7, 620.—
B To take a thing upon one's self, to undertake (syn. suscipio): accipito hanc ad te litem, Plaut. Most. 5, 2, 23: meā causā causam accipite, Ter. Hec. 55; cf. Cic. Fam. 7, 24; so id. Verr. 2, 3, 22; Quint. 20 al.—Hence also,
C To bear , endure , suffer any thing disagreeable or troublesome: hanccine ego ut contumeliam tam insignem ad me accipiam! Ter. Eun. 771: nil satis firmi video, quamobrem accipere hunc me expediat metum, id. Heaut. 337; 932; id. Eun. 762; id. Ad. 207; id. Phorm. 769; Cic. Tusc. 5, 19, 56: calamitatem, id. Off. 3, 26: injuriam, id. ib. 1, 11 al.—
D To accept a thing , to be satisfied with , to approve : dos, Pamphile, est decem talenta; Pam. : Accipio, Ter. And. 951: accepit condicionem, dein quaestum accipit, id. ib. 79: visa ista ... accipio iisque interdum etiam assentior, nec percipio tamen, Cic. Ac. 2 ( Luc. ), 20, 66: preces suas acceptas ab dis immortalibus ominati, Liv. 42, 30, 8 Drak. Cf. Herz, Caes. B. G. 5, 1: “equi te esse feri similem, dico.” Ridemus et ipse Messius: “accipio.” I allow it , Exactly so , Hor. S. 1, 5, 58.—
E In mercant. lang., t. t., to receive or collect a sum : pro quo (frumento) cum a Varinio praetore pecuniam accepisset, Cic. Fl. 45; hence subst.: acceptum , i, n., the receipt , and in account-books the credit side : in acceptum referre alicui, to carry over to the credit side , to place to one's credit , Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 149; id. Rosc. Com. 2; id. Phil. 2, 16; id. Caec. 6, 17; Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 234 (opp. datum or expensum).—Hence also trop., to owe or be indebted to one , in a good or a bad sense: ut esset nemo qui non mihi vitam suam, liberos, remp. referret acceptam, Cic. Phil. 2, 5, 13: omnia mala, quae postea vidimus, uni accepta referemus Antonio, ascribe , id. ib. 22, 55; Caes. B. G. 8, 58; id. B. C, 3, 57: Acceptum refero versibus, esse nocens, Ov. Tr. 2, 1, 10. —
F In the gramm., to take a word or phrase thus or thus , to explain a word in any manner: adversus interdum promiscue accipitur, Charis. p. 207 P. al.—(Syn. nanciscor and adipiscor: he to whom something is given, accipit; he who gets by a fortunate occurrence, nanciscitur; he who obtains it by exertion, adipiscitur. “ Sumimus ipsi: accipimus ab alio,” Vel. Long. p. 2243 P.—“Inter tenere , sumere et accipere hoc interest, quod tenemus quae sunt in nostra potestate: sumimus posita: accipimus data,” Isid. Diff. 1).
XIX —Hence, acceptus , a, um, P. a., welcome , agreeable , acceptable (syn. gratus. Acceptus is related to gratus , as the effect to the cause; he who is gratus , i. e. dear, is on that account acceptus , welcome, acceptable; hence the usual position: gratus atque acceptus).—First, of persons: essetne apud te is servus acceptissimus? Plaut. Capt. 3, 5, 56: plebi acceptus erat, Caes. B. G. 1, 13; acceptus erat in oculis, Vulg. 1 Reg. 18, 5.— Of things: dis et hominibus est acceptum quod, etc., Varr. R. R. 3, 16, 5: quod vero approbaris. id gratum acceptumque habendum, Cic. Tusc. 5, 15, 45: munus eorum gratum acceptumque esse, Nep. Hann. 7, 3: quorum mihi dona accepta et grata habeo, Plaut. Truc. 2, 7, 56: rem populo Romano gratam acceptamque, Cic. Phil. 13, 50; tempore accepto exaudivi, Vulg. 2 Cor. 6, 2.— Comp. , Plaut. Pers. 4, 4, 96; Cic. Rep. 6, 13; Tac. A. 6, 45 al.— Sup. , see above.—Adv. accepte does not occur.