arto (not arcto), āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [1. artus],
I to draw or press close together , to compress , contract (not found in Cic.).
I.A Lit.: omnia conciliatu artari possunt, * Lucr. 1, 576: libros, Mart. 1, 3, 3; Col. 12, 44, 2: vitis contineri debet vimine, non artari, Plin. 17, 23, 35, § 209: angustias eas artantibus insulis parvis, quae etc., id. 3, 6, 13, § 83.—
B Trop., to contract , straiten , limit , curtail : fortuna humana fingit artatque ut lubet, i. e. in angustias redigit, Plaut. Capt. 2, 2, 54 Lind.; Liv. 45, 56: tempus, to limit , circumscribe , Dig. 42, 1, 2; 38, 9, 1: se, to limit one's self , to retrench , ib. 1, 11, 2 al. —
II In gen., to finish , conclude , Petr. 85, 4.
V —Hence, artātus , a, um, P. a., contracted into a small compass; hence, narrow , close; and of time, short : pontus, Luc. 5, 234: tempus, Vell. 1, 16.