rĕlĭgĭōsus (in the poets also rellig-), a, um, adj. [religio],
I reverencing or fearing God ( the gods ), pious , devout , religious : qui omnia quae ad cultum deorum pertinerent, diligenter retractarent et tamquam relegerent, sunt dicti religiosi ex relegendo, etc., Cic. N. D. 2, 28, 72 (cf. religio init. ): religiosi dicuntur, qui faciendarum praetermittendarumque rerum divinarum secundum morem civitatis delectum habent, nec se superstitionibus implicant, Fest. p. 289, 15 Müll.: naturā sancti et religiosi, Cic. Rosc. Com. 15, 44: asotos ita non religiosos ut edant de patellā, id. Fin. 2, 7, 22: si magis religiosa fuerit, Plaut. As. 4, 1, 37: nostri majores, religiosissimi mortales, Sall. C. 12, 3: mortuis religiosa jura tribuere, religious rites , Cic. Lael. 4, 13: mores justi, integri, religiosi, id. de Or. 2, 43, 184: amicitiae religiosā quādam necessitudine imbutae, quint. 1, 2, 20: hominem occidere religiosissimum erat, was a thing exceedingly pious or pleasing to the gods , Plin. 30, 1, 4, § 13; cf.: aliqui nomine quoque consalutare religiosius putant, etc., id. 28, 2, 5, § 23: Judaei, viri religiosi, Vulg. Act. 2, 5.—
b Eccl. Lat., of or belonging to the clergy , clerical (opp. saecularis), Salv. Avar. 3, 5.—
II Transf. (acc. to religio, II.).
A Subject., religiously considerate , careful , anxious , scrupulous : civitas religiosa, in principiis maxime novorum bellorum . . . ne quid praetermitteretur, quod aliquando factum esset. ludos Jovi donumque vovere consulem jussit, Liv. 31, 9: per hos quoque dies abstinent terrenis operibus religiosiores agricolae, Col. 11, 2, 98; 11, 3, 62: quem campi fructum quia religiosum erat consumere, was a matter of religious scruple , Liv. 2, 5; 3, 22; 5, 52; 6, 27; cf.: religiosum est, quod jurati legibus judicarunt, Cic. Inv. 1, 30, 48.—
b Overscrupulous , over-anxious , superstitious (rare and only ante-class.): religentem esse oportet, religiosum nefas, Poët. ap. Gell. 4, 9, 1: ecquis incultior, religiosior, desertior? Cato ap. Fest. s. v. repulsior, p. 236: ut stultae et miserae sumus Religiosae, Ter. Heaut. 650.—
2 In gen., scrupulous , strict , precise , accurate , conscientious : religiosus est non modo deorum sanctitatem magni aestimans, sed etiam officiosus adversus homines, Fest. p. 278 Müll.: quod et in re misericordem se praebuerit et in testimoniis religiosum, Cic. Caecin. 10, 26: testis religiosissimus, id. Vatin. 1, 1: natio minime in testimoniis dicendis religiosa, id. Fl. 10, 23: judex, Quint. 4, 1, 9: quem rerum Romanarum auctorem laudare possum religiosissimum, Cic. Brut. 11, 44: ad Atticorum aures teretes et religiosas qui se accommodant, id. Or. 9, 27: ephorus vero non est religiosissimae fidei, Sen. Q. N. 7, 16, 2: religiosissimis verbis jurare, Petr. 21. —
B Of the objects of religious veneration (temples, statues, utensils, etc.), holy , sacred : templum sane sanctum et religiosum, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 43, § 94; cf. id. Imp. Pomp. 22, 65: signum sacrum ac religiosum, id. Verr. 2, 4, 57, § 127; and so with sacer, id. Leg. 3, 13, 31: dies, Suet. Tib. 61: ex Aesculapi religiosissimo fano, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 43, § 93: Ceres antiquissima, religiosissima, id. ib. 2, 4, 49, § 109; cf.: religiosissimum simulacrum Jovis Imperatoris, id. ib. 2, 4, 57, § 128: altaria, id. Planc. 35, 68: deorum limina, Verg. A. 2, 365: loca, Cic. Rab. Perd. 2, 7: sacra religiosissima, Vell. 2, 45, 1; Suet. Aug. 7: vestes, id. Tib. 36; id. Oth. 12: simulacra, Sedul. 1, 227: divini juris sunt veluti res sacrae et religiosae . . . (sunt res) religiosae quae diis manibus relictae sunt, Gai. Inst. 2, 3 sq.—
2 Esp.: dies religiosus, a day upon which it was unlucky to undertake any thing important , a day of evil omen , e. g. the dies Alliensis, the dies atri, etc., Cic. Att. 9, 5, 2; Lucil. ap. Non. 379, 19; Liv. 6, 1; 26, 17; 37, 33; Suet. Tib. 61; id. Claud. 14 al.; cf. Gell. 4, 9, 4; and Fest. s. h. v. p. 231.—
3 Solum religiosum, land consecrated by the burial of the dead , Gai. Inst. 2, 6 sq.—Hence, adv.: rē̆lĭgĭō-sē .
1 Piously , religiously : religiosius deos colere, Liv. 10, 7; cf.: templum religiosissime colere, Cic. Inv. 2, 1, 1: natalem religiosius celebrare, Plin. Ep. 3, 7, 8.—
2 Considerately , scrupulously , punctually , exactly , conscientiously : testimonium dicere, Cic. Cael. 22, 55; cf. Plin. Pan. 65, 2: commendare, Cic. Fam. 13, 17 fin. : nihil religiose administrabat, Col. 3, 10, 7; cf. id. 8, 5, 11: quicquid rogabatur, religiose promittebat, considerately , cautiously , Nep. Att. 15: religiosius rem rusticam colere, Col. 11, 2, 95: poëticen religiosissime veneror, Plin. Ep. 3, 15, 2.