vetustas

vĕtustas, ātis, f. [id.], old age, age, long existence.

I.

Lit.

A.

In gen.:

municipium vetustate antiquissimum,

Cic. Phil. 3, 6, 15:

vetustate possessionis se, non jure defendunt,

id. Agr. 2, 21, 57:

tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas,

Verg. A. 3, 415: tum senior: quamvis obstet mihi tarda vetustas;

Multaque me fugiant, etc., = senectus,

Ov. M. 12, 182.— Plur.:

quae familiarnm vetustatibus aut pecuniis ponderantur,

Cic. Rep. 1, 31, 47.—

B.

In partic., ancient times, antiquity:

historia nuntia vetustatis,

Cic. de Or. 2, 9, 36:

contra omnia vetustatis exempla,

Caes. B. C. 1, 6:

in tantā vetustate non rerum modo sed etiam auctorum,

Liv. 2, 21, 4:

vetustatem in majus componens,

exaggerating, Sall. H. 3, 60 Dietsch:

judicio vetustatis,

Quint. 1, 5, 72:

sic credidit alta vetustas,

Sil. 1, 26.—

II.

Transf.

A.

Long duration, great age:

quae mihi videntur habitura etiam vetustatem,

i.e. will have a long duration, Cic. Att. 14, 9, 2:

scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent,

Ov. Tr. 5, 9, 8: vinum in vetustatem servare, till it becomes old, acquires age, Cato, R. R. 114, 2:

terebinthi materies fidelis ad vetustatem,

Plin. 13, 6, 12, § 54; Quint. 10, 1, 40; Col. 3, 2, 19; Cels. 3, 14:

conjuncti vetustate, officiis, benevolentiā,

i. e. long intimacy, ancient friendship, Cic. Fam. 13, 32, 2; 10, 10, 2; 11, 16, 2; Q. Cic. Pet. Cons. 5, 16.—

B.

Hence, posterity, the remote future (conceived as a time when this age will have become ancient):

de me semper omnes gentes loquentur, nulla umquam obmutescet vetustas,

Cic. Mil. 35, 98:

si qua fidem tanto est operi latura vetustas,

Verg. A. 10, 792 Ladew. and Forbig. ad loc.; cf.:

quis hoc credat, nisi sit pro teste vetustas,

Ov. M. 1, 400.—

C.

In medic. lang.:

ulcerum,

i. e. inveterate ulcers, Cels. 5, 26, 31; Plin. 21, 19, 74, § 127.