dēbĕo (dehibeo, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 24 infra, cf. Ritschl, Opusc. Phil. 2, 590), ŭi, ĭtum, 2, v. a. [de-habeo], (lit., to have or keep from some one: "qui pecuniam dissolvit, statim non habet id quod reddidit, qui autem debet, aes retinet alienum," Cic. Planc. 28, 68 Wund.; hence), to owe (Gr. ὀφείλω; opp. reddo, solvo, dissolvo, persolvo, freq. and class.).
I Lit., of money and money's worth.
a Act. ,
α with acc.: quas (drachmas) de ratione dehibuisti, Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 24; cf. Ter. Heaut. 791: Mylasis et Alabandis pecuniam Cluvio debent, Cic. Fam. 13, 56; so, pecuniam alicui, id. ib. 13, 14 et saep.: qui dissolverem quae debeo, Ter. Phorm. 656: appellatus es de pecunia, quam pro domo, pro hortis, pro sectione debebas, Cic. Phil. 2, 29, 71; so, grandem pecuniam, Sall. C. 49, 3: quadringenties HS. Cic. Phil. 2, 37: talenta CC, id. Att. 5, 21, 12: quadruplum, duplum, Quint. 7, 4, 44 et saep.—
β Without acc.: illis quibus debeo, Ter. Phorm. 923: ut illi quam plurimi deberent, Sall. J. 96, 2: nec ipsi debeo, Quint. 4, 4, 6: Cal. Jan. debuit; adhuc non solvit, Cic. Att. 14, 18; Caes. B. C. 3, 20, 3 et saep.— Part. pres. as subst.: debentes, ium, m., debtors , Liv. 6, 27, 3; cf. Sen. Ben. 1, 4, 5.—
b Pass. : dum pecunia accipitur, quae mihi ex publica permutatione debetur, Cic. Fam. 3, 5, 4; id. Verr. 2, 3, 82; cf.: quam ad diem legioni frumentum deberi sciebat, Caes. B. G. 6, 33: a publicanis suae provinciae debitam biennii pecuniam exegerat, id. B. C. 3, 31; Quint. 5, 10, 117: quod si omnino non debetur? Quid? praetor solet judicare deberi? Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 3, § 10; cf.: quaeretur an debeatur, Quint. 7, 1, 21 et saep.—Hence,
β Dēbĭ-tum , i, n., what is owing, a debt , Cic. Att. 13, 23 fin. : ne de bonis deminui paterentur priusquam Fundanio debitum solutum esset, id. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 3, § 10: tamquam debito fraudetur, id. Or. 53, 178: ex quibus unum haec epistula in debitum solvet, will pay a debt with one , Sen. Ep. 7, 10: reddere, to repay , Col. 10, pr. 1.
2 Prov.: animan debere, to be over head and ears in debt , Ter. Phorm. 661 ("Graecum proverbium, καὶ αὐτὴν τὴν ψυχὴν ὀφείλει," Don.).
II Trop., to owe something, i. e. to be under obligation , both to and for something.
A To owe , i. e. to be bound or under obligation to render, pay , etc., something (for syn. cf.: necesse est, oportet, cogo, decet, opus est, par est, meum, tuum ... alicujus est).
1 In gen.
a Act.
143: quo etiam majorem ei res publica gratiam debet, Cic. Phil. 2, 11, 27; so, gratiam, Sall. J. 110; cf. no. b: videris patriae hoc munus debere, Cic. Leg. 1, 25: si fidem debet tutor, Quint. 5, 10, 73 (acc. to Cic. Top. 10, 42, si tutor fidem praestare debet); cf. no. b: dies longa videtur opus debentibus, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 21: quos mundo debes oculos, Ov. M. 4, 197: debueram patriae poenas odiisque meorum, Verg. A. 10, 853; cf. Ov. M. 6, 538; id. F. 5, 648: juvenem nil jam caelestibus ullis debentem, Verg. A. 11, 51; cf. Sil. 15, 371: navis, quae tibi creditum Debes Vergilium finibus Atticis, Hor. Od. 1, 3, 6; Ov. M. 1, 481 sq.: Turnum debent haec jam mihi sacra, Verg. A. 12, 317 Wagn. N. cr.; cf. id. ib. 11, 179: isti tibi quid homines debent? i. e. what business have you with those men? Plaut. Trin. 4, 2, 51; cf. infra b fin. —
β With inf., to be bound, in duty bound to do something; I ought, must, should , etc., do it (in class. prose always in the sense of moral necessity; in the poets sometimes for necesse est ): debetis velle quae velimus, Plaut. Am. prol. 39: num ferre contra patriam arma illi cum Coriolano debuerunt? Cic. Lael. 11: multo illa gravius aestimare debere, Caes. B. G. 7, 14 fin. : Africam forte Tubero obtinere debebat, id. B. C. 1, 30: debes hoc etiam rescribere, Hor. Ep. 1, 3, 30 et saep.: ut agri vastari, oppida expugnari non debuerint, Caes, B. G. 1, 11: summae se iniquitatis condemnari debere, si, etc., id. ib. 7, 19 fin. : scriptor ... inter perfectos veteresque referri debet, etc., Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 37 (for which ib. 41: inter quos referendus erit? cf. also ultima semper Exspectanda dies homini; dicique beatus Ante obitum nemo debet, Ov. M. 3, 137): ut jam nunc dicat, jam nunc debentia dici, Hor. A. P. 43 et saep.—Poet. for necesse est, oportet, it is necessary, it must needs (so almost everywhere in Lucret.): omnia debet enim cibus integrare novando et fulcire cibus, etc., Lucr. 2, 1146; 3, 188; 4, 61; 1, 232 Munro.—
b Pass., to be due or owing : Veneri jam et Libero reliquum tempus deberi arbitrabatur, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 11: quanta his (sc. dis) gratia debeatur, id. Fin. 3, 22, 73; id. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 9 fin. : honores non ex merito, sed quasi debitos repetere, Sall. J. 85, 37 et saep.: persolvant grates dignas et praemia reddant Debita! Verg. A. 2, 538: debita quam sulcis committas semina, id. G. 1, 223; Prop. 1, 6, 17; 2, 28, 60 (3, 26, 14 M.): debitae Nymphis opifex coronae, Hor. Od. 3, 27, 30: calentem debita sparges lacrima favillam, id. ib. 2, 6, 23; Prop. 3, 7, 9 (4, 6, 9 M.): soli mihi Pallas debetur, Verg. A. 10, 443 et saep.: quid tibi istic debetur? what business have you there? Plaut. Mil. 2, 5, 18; id. Truc. 2, 2, 8; id. Rud. 1, 1, 34; cf. supra, a
α .
XVI —Hence, Dēbĭtum , i, n., what is due, debt, duty, obligation (post-Aug. and rare): velut omni vitae debito liberatus, Curt. 10, 5, 3: nepotum nutriendorum, Val. Max. 2, 9, 1: non secundum gratiam, sed secundum debitum, Vulg. Rom. 4, 4; 1 Cor. 7, 3: solvere debito, to free from obligation , Sen. Ben. 6, 4, 1.—
2 Poet. (esp. in Verg.) and in post-Aug. prose like the Gr. ὀφείλω and ὀφλισκάνω.
a To owe , i. e. to be bound or destined by fate or by nature (v. Lidd. and Scott sub. ὀφείλω, no. 3).
α Act.. urbem et jam cerno Phrygios debere nepotes, i. e. are destined to found , Ov. M. 15, 444: debet multas hic legibus aevi (i. e. fato) Ante suam mortes, Luc. 2, 82; cf. id. 6, 530.—More usually,
β pass., to be due i. e. to be destined : cui regnum Italiae Romanaque tellus Debentur, Verg. A. 4, 276; cf. id. ib. 3, 184; 7, 120; 145: indigetem Aeneam scis Deberi caelo, id. ib. 12, 795: animae, quibus altera fato Corpora debentur, id. ib. 6, 714: sors ista senectae Debita erat nostrae, id. ib. 11, 166: fatis debitus Arruns, i. e. devoted to death , id. ib. 11, 759: dum bello Argolici vastabant Pergama reges Debita casurasque inimicis ignibus arces, id. ib. 8, 375 (" fataliter ad exitium destinata ," Serv.); cf. so absol. : tempora Parcae debita complerant, id. ib. 9, 108: morbo naturae debitum reddiderunt, Nep. Reg. 1 fin. : DEBITVM NATVRAE PERSOLVIT, etc., Inscr. Orell. no. 3453; and simply DEBITVM PERSOLVIT, id. ib. no. 4482.—
b So, because what one is destined by the fates to suffer is regarded as his debt (ὀφλισκάνειν γέλωτά τινι): tu nisi ventis debes ludibrium, cave, Hor. Od. 1, 14, 16.
B To owe something to some one, to be indebted to or to have to thank one for something.
α With acc.: ut hoc summum beneficium Q. Maximo debuerim, Cic. de Or. 1, 26, 121; so magna beneficia mihi, Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 12; qui mihi laudem illam eo minus deberet, Cic. Att. 1, 14, 3: me paene plus tibi quam ipsi Miloni debiturum, id. Fam. 2, 6 fin. ; cf. id. Planc. 28; and quantum cuique deberet, Nep. Epam. 3 fin. ; Plin. Pan. 30, 1 et saep.: o cui debere salutem Confiteor, Ov. M. 7, 164; so vitam, id. Pont. 4, 5, 31; and in a like sense: se, id. M. 7, 48; 2, 644; so, in a bad sense, hoc quoque Tarquinio debebimus, id. Fast. 2, 825. —
β Absol., to be indebted, obliged, under obligation to one: verum fac me multis debere, et in iis Plancio, etc., Cic. Planc. 28; cf. with a clause: tibi nos debere fatemur, quod, etc., Ov. M. 4, 76.
C To continue to owe something; i. e. to withhold, keep back : quod praesenti tibi non tribueram, id absenti debere non potui, Cic. Fam. 7, 19, init. —So pass. : sic enim diximus, et tibi hoc video non posse debere, id. Tusc. 2, 27, 67 fin.