tĕrĕs, ĕtis, adj. [tero; cf. Gr. τέρην, tender], rounded off, rounded, well-turned, round, smooth, etc.: teres est in longitudine rotundatum, quales asseres natura ministrat, Fest. p. 363 Müll. (class.; syn. rotundus).
I Lit.: stipites, Caes. B. G. 7, 73: palus, Col. 4, 33, 4: trunci arborum, Verg. A. 6, 207: oliva, id. E. 8, 16: virga, Ov. M. 2, 135: fusus, id. ib. 6, 22: hastile, Liv. 21, 8, 10: mucro, Verg. A. 7, 665: lapillus, Ov. M. 10, 260: (fundae) habena, Verg. A. 11, 579.—Of parts of the body: cervix, round , slender , Lucr. 1, 35, Verg. A. 8, 633; so, collum, Ov. M. 10, 113: brachiolum, Cat. 61, 181. surae, Hor. C. 2, 4, 21, Ov. M. 11, 80: membra, Suet. Caes. 45: digiti, Ov. A. A. 1, 622, hence, of the form: puer, Hor. Epod. 11, 28.—Of other objects: plagae, tightly twisted , firmly woven , Hor. C. 1, 1, 28 strophium, Cat. 64, 65: zona, Ov. F. 2, 320: gemma, Verg. A. 5, 313: iaspis, Claud Rapt. Pros. 2, 40: catena, Luc. 3, 565: filum, Plin. 11, 24, 28, § 80: mitra, Claud. in Eutr. 2, 185: coma, curling , curly , Varr. ap Non. 328, 12.—
II Trop., in gen., smooth , polished , elegani : (sapiens) teres atque rotundus, Hor. S. 2, 7, 86, imitated by Aus. Idyll. 16, 4: Atticorum aures teretes et religiosae, Cic. Or. 9, 27: teretes aures intellegensque judicium, id. Opt. Gen. 4, 11: vox in disputationibus, smooth , without impediment , Quint. 11, 3, 64: oratio plena, sed tamen teres, rounded off , polished , Cic. de Or. 3, 52, 199: Ciceroni mollius teretiusque visum est, fretu scribere quam freto, Gell. 13, 20, 15.— Sup. and adv. seem not to occur.