6.26.1Est bōs cervī figūrā, cuius ā mediā fronte inter aurēs ūnum cornū exsistit excelsius magisque dīrēctum hīs, quae nōbīs nōta sunt, cornibus: ab eius summō sīcut palmae rāmīque lātē diffunduntur.There is an ox shaped like a stag, from the middle of whose forehead, between the ears, a single horn rises, taller and straighter than the horns we know; from its top it spreads out widely like open hands and branches.Note. This 'ox shaped like a stag' with one horn may be a garbled report of the reindeer. figūrā: ablative of description. 6.26.1Eadem est fēminae marisque nātūra, eadem fōrma magnitūdōque cornuum.The female and the male are alike in nature, and alike in the shape and size of their horns.
Lectitō › Julius Caesar › Gallic War, Book 6 › De Bello Gallico 6.26
Caesar · De Bello Gallico VI
De Bello Gallico 6.26
An ox shaped like a stag
In brief. The first animal Caesar describes is an ox shaped like a stag, with a single tall, straight horn rising from the middle of its forehead and branching at the top like open hands. Males and females, he says, are alike.
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Read in LectitōLatin vocabulary for this passage (33 words)
| sum, esse, fuī, futūrus | be |
| bōs, bovis, gen. plur. boum, dat. and abl. plur. bōbus, m. and f. | ox, bull, cow |
| cervus, -ī, m. | stag |
| figūra, -ae, f. | form, shape, figure |
| quī, quae, quod, rel. pron. | who, which |
| ā, ab (prep. + abl.) | away from, from; by (ā only before consonants) |
| medius, -a, -um | mid, middle |
| frōns, frontis, f. | forehead |
| inter, prep, with acc. | among, between |
| auris, -is, f. | ear |
| ūnus, -a, -um | one; only, alone |
| cornū, -ūs, n. | horn |
| exsistō, -ere, -stitī | come forth, arise; appear |
| excelsus, -a, -um | high, tall |
| magis, comp. adv. | more, rather |
| que, enclitic conj. | and |
| dīrigō (dērigō), -ere, -rēxī, -rēctus | set straight, arrange in line; dērēctus: straight |
| hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron. | this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter |
| nōs | plur. of ego |
| nōtus, -a, -um | known, well-known, famous |
| is, ea, id, dem. pron. | this, that; he, she, it, they |
| summus, -a, -um | uppermost, highest, greatest |
| sīcut (conj.) | just as |
| palma, -ae f. | palm of the hand; flat spreading branch |
| rāmus, -ī, m. | branch, bough |
| lātē | widely |
| diffundō, -fundere, -fūdī, -fūsus | pour forth, spread or shed abroad, diffuse |
| īdem, eadem, idem, dem. pron. | the same; sometimes to be translated likewise, also |
| fēmina, -ae, f. | woman |
| mās, maris m. | male |
| nātūra, -ae, f. | nature, character |
| fōrma, -ae, f. | form, appearance; beauty |
| magnitūdō, -tūdinis, f. | greatness, size |
Caesar, De Bello Gallico VI. Latin text: T. Rice Holmes (Oxford, 1914), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: LatinCy, then every word checked and corrected by hand. Vocabulary: F. Ritchie (1903, public domain) and entries written for this app. English translation, notes and grammar hints: written for this app.