per-tento, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a., to feel all over; hence,
I To prove , try , test any thing.
A Lit. (very rare): cum utrumque pugionem pertentasset, Tac. H. 2, 49: alta bipenni latera, Petr. poët. 89, v. 24.—
B Trop. (rare but class.): aliquem, Ter. And. 588: animum cohortis, Tac. H. 1, 29: rem, to consider or weigh well , Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 4, 5: omnia pertento, omnia experior, Plin. Ep. 1, 20, 15: nobilium adulescentium animos, Liv. 2, 3, 6.—
II To pervade , invade; to seize , affect (poet. and in postAug. prose): dum prima lues ... Pertentat sensus, Verg. A. 7, 354: pertentant gaudia pectus, id. ib. 1, 502: tremor pertentet Corpora, id. G. 3, 250: vinolentiā ac fatigatione pertentatus, Ap. Met. 1, 11, 10.