I.a. [ros], to let fall, drop, or distil dew (syn. stillo).
I. Lit.
a. Neutr.: (Aurora) toto rorat in orbe, Ov. M. 13, 622: “cum rorare Tithonia conjux Coeperit,” id. F. 3, 403: “rorate, caeli,” Vulg. Isa. 45, 8. — More usually impers., dew falls, it drizzles, it sprinkles: “ante rorat quam pluit,” Varr. L. L. 7, § 58; Col. 11, 2, 45; 76; Plin. 17, 10, 14, § 74; Suet. Aug. 92. —
b. Act.: “tellus rorata mane pruinā,” moistened, besprinkled, Ov. F. 3, 357.—
II. Transf., to drop, trickle, drip, distil.
a. Neutr.: “lacrimis spargunt rorantibus ora genasque,” with trickling, flowing, Lucr. 2, 977 (cf. infra, b.): rorant pennaeque sinusque, drip or shed moisture, Ov. M. 1, 267: “comae,” id. ib. 5, 488: “ora dei madidā barbā,” id. ib. 1, 339; cf. id. ib. 3, 683; 177; “14, 786: sanguine vepres,” Verg. A. 8, 645; 11, 8: “lacte capellae,” id. Cul. 75: “ora,” Luc. 2, 123: “hostili cruore arma,” Quint. Decl. 4, 8.—
b. Act., to bedew, to moisten, wet: “circumstant, lacrimis rorantes ora genasque,” Lucr. 3, 469: “saxa cruore,” Sil. 10, 263. — “And with the liquid as an object: quam caelum intrare parantem Roratis lustravit aquis Iris,” with sprinkled waters, Ov. M. 4, 479; id. F. 4, 728: “si roraverit quantulum cumque imbrem,” Plin. 17, 10, 14, § 74.—Absol.: pocula rorantia, which yielded the wine drop by drop (a transl. of the Gr. ἐπιψεκάζειν), * Cic. Sen. 14, 46: rorans juvenis, the youth pouring out, the young cup-bearer, i. e. Ganymedes, as a constellation (Aquarius), Manil. 5, 482.— *
B. Trop., to drop, distil, etc.: “si minutis illis suis et rorantibus responsionibus satisfaciet consulenti,” Macr. S. 7, 9.
