mĕātus, ūs, m. [meo], a going, passing, motion, course (poet. and post-Aug.).
I Lit.: solis lunaeque meatus, Lucr. 1, 128: caeli, Verg. A. 6, 850: aquilae, flight , Tac. H. 1, 62: spiritus, i. e. the breathing, respiration , Quint. 7, 10, 10: animae, Plin. Ep. 6, 16, 13.—
II Transf., concr., a way, path, passage , Val. Fl. 3, 403: meatum vomiticnibus praeparare, Plin. 19, 5, 26, § 85: spirandi, id. 28, 13, 55, § 197: cur signa meatus Deseruere suos, left their paths , i. e. became darkened, eclipsed , Luc. 1, 664: Danubius in Ponticum sex meatibus erumpit, discharges itself through six channels , Tac. G. 1; cf.: bifido meatu divisus Rhenus, divided into two channels , Claud. B. G. 336. —
B The avenues of sensation in the body: homo septem meatus habet in capite, duos oculos, etc., Mart. Cap. 7, § 739.