Gutta

1.

gutta, ae (archaic gen. sing. guttaiï, Lucr. 6, 614), f. [etym. dub.], a drop of a fluid (cf.: stilla, stiria).

I.

Lit.:

numerus quem in cadentibus guttis, quod intervallis distinguitur, notare possumus,

Cic. de Or. 3, 48, 186:

guttae imbrium quasi cruentae,

id. N. D. 2, 5, 14:

gutta cavat lapidem, consumitur annulus usu,

Ov. P. 4, 10, 5:

si ego in os meum hodie vini guttam indidi,

Plaut. Cas. 2, 3, 30:

guttam haud habeo sanguinis (prae metu),

id. Most. 2, 2, 76; cf. Verg. A. 3, 28:

gutta per attonitas ibat oborta genas,

i. e. tears, Ov. P. 2, 3, 90:

succina,

i. e. amber, Mart. 6, 15, 2;

the same, Phaëthontis,

id. 4, 32, 1: Arabicae, perh. oil of myrrh, App. M. 2, p. 118; cf. Sid. Carm. 5, 43:

sanguinis in facie non haeret gutta,

i. e. no blush, Juv. 11, 54.—

B.

Transf.

1.

Guttae, natural spots, specks on animals, stones, etc.:

nigraque caeruleis variari corpora (anguis) guttis,

Ov. M. 4, 578; cf. id. ib. 5, 461:

(apium) paribus lita corpora guttis,

Verg. G. 4, 99:

lapis interstinctus aureis guttis,

Plin. 36, 8, 13, § 63; 29, 4, 27, § 84.—

2.

In archit., a small ornament under the triglyphs of a Doric column, drops, Vitr. 4, 3.—

II.

Trop., a drop, i. e. a little bit, a little (ante-class. and very rare):

gutta dulcedinis,

Lucr. 4, 1060:

certi consilī,

Plaut. Ps. 1, 4, 4.

2.

Gutta, ae, m., a Roman surname, Cic. Clu. 26, 71; 36, 98.