laurus, i (gen. laurūs, Plin. 15, 30, 39, § 132; 14, 16, 19, § 112; Col. 6, 7, 3 codd.; abl. lauru, Hor. C. 2, 7, 19; but lauro, id. ib. 3, 30, 16; nom. plur. laurus, Verg. A. 3, 91; acc. plur. laurus, id. E. 6, 83 al.; Tib. 2, 5, 63; gen. plur. lauruum, acc. to Charis. p. 110 P.), f. [cf. Germ. lor- in Lorbeere],
I a bay-tree, laurel-tree, laurel , sacred to Apollo; cf.: aliquid cedo Qui vicini hanc nostram augeam aram Apollinis. Da sane hanc virgam lauri, Plaut. Merc. 4, 1, 11; it grew in greatest beauty on Parnassus, and hence is called Parnasia laurus, Verg. G. 2, 18; its branches were the decoration of poets, Hor. C. 4, 2, 9; of the flamens, Liv. 23, 11; Ov. F. 3, 137. In festivals, the ancestral images were decorated with laurel, Cic. Mur. 41. The leaves, when eaten, were said to impart the power of prophesying, Tib. 2, 5, 63; Juv. 7, 19. Victorious generals, in triumphal processions, wore laurel crowns on their heads and carried laurel branches in their hands, while their lictors bore fasces bound with laurel, Cic. Att. 7, 10; Ov. M. 1, 560. Before the gate of the imperial palace stood two laurel-trees, with oaken crowns, in honor of the emperor, as the vanquisher of foes and the people's preserver: janitrix Caesarum et pontificum, Plin. 15, 30, 39, § 127 sqq.; Tert. Apol. 35. A wet branch of laurel was used in lustrations, to sprinkle the objects to be purified: cuperent lustrari ... si foret umida laurus, Juv. 2, 158; cf. Dict. Antiq. s. v. lustratio.—
II Meton. for laurea, a laurel crown , as the sign of a triumph; hence for triumph, victory : incurrit haec nostra laurus non solum in oculos, sed, etc., Cic. Fam. 2, 16, 2: Parthica, Plin. Pan. 14: Indica, Stat. S. 4, 1, 4: Sarmatica, Mart. 7, 6, 10: ornari lauro secunda, Juv. 8, 253.