pristis

• pistris, pistrix, pristix

From Ancient Greek πρίστις (prístis, “saw, sawfish”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈprɪs.tɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈpris.tis]

pristis f

1. any sea monster; a whale, shark, sawfish
   • 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia IX.8:

     Maximum animal in Indico mari pristis et ballaena est, in Gallico oceano physeter, ingentis columnae modo se attollens altiorque navium velis diluviem quandam eructans, in Gaditano oceano arbor, in tantum vastis dispansa ramis, ut ex ea causa fretum numquam intrasse credatur. apparent et rotae appellatae a similitudine, quaternis distinctae h<a>e radiis, modiolos earum oculis duobus utrimque claudentibus.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. the constellation of the Whale
   • 106 BCE – 43 BCE, Cicero, Aratea 149–154:

     Hunc Orionis sub laeva cernere planta
     serpentem poteris, proceraque vincla videbis
     quae retinent Pisces caudarum a parte locata
     Flumine mixta retro ad Pistricis terga reverti.
     Haec una stella nectuntur, quam iacit ex se
     Pistricis spina evalida cum luce refulgens.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. a species of swift-sailing ship
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 35.26:

     Comparaverat et tyrannus modicam classem ad prohibenda si qua obsessis mari submitterentur praesidia, tres tectas naves et lembos pristesque, tradita vetere classe ex foedere Romanis. Harum novarum tum navium agilitatem ut experiretur, simul ut omnia satis apta ad certamen essent, provectos in altum cotidie remigem militemque simulacris navalis pugnae exercebat, in eo ratus verti spem obsidionis si praesidia maritima interclusisset.

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4. the name of a ship in the fleet of Aeneas
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid V.114–123:

     Prima pares ineunt gravibus certamina remis
     quattuor ex omni delectae classe carinae.
     velocem Mnestheus agit acri remige Pristim,
     mox Italus Mnestheus, genus a quo nomine Memmi,
     ingentemque Gyas ingenti mole Chimaeram,
     urbis opus, triplici pubes quam Dardana versu
     impellunt, terno consurgunt ordine remi;
     Sergestusque, domus tenet a quo Sergia nomen,
     Centauro invehitur magna, Scyllaque Cloanthus
     caerulea, genus unde tibi, Romane Cluenti.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Third-declension noun (i-stem, accusative singular in -im or occasionally -em, ablative singular in -ī or -e).