centesimusduodecimus

crispo, crispare, crispavi, crispatus

Definition:

[v tr] to make wavy, curl (hair); to produce ripples or undulations in (a surface); to brandish (a weapon)

[v intr] to become puckered; (of wood) to have a wavy grain; to tremble, quiver

Sententiae:

1.312-313, Vergil's Aeneid:

"...ipse [Aeneas] uno graditur comitatus Achate

bina manu lato crispans hastilia ferro."

"he himself steps having been accompanied together with Achates, brandishing twin spears with broad iron in the hand."

Another random sentence [not quite in the dactylic hexameter of the one above :( ]:

"ipsa [domina] uno sedet comitatus anchilla

quae manu lato crispat capilla ferro."

"she herself sits having been accompanied together with a female slave, who curls the hair by means of broad iron with the hand."

[A cultural note: the Romans actually did curl their hair with iron tongs having been heated up, though I doubt that those rods could be described as "broad." It's a nice parallel, though.]

The two sentences above really beg to be hybridized, and thus:

"ipse uno graditur comitatus Achate

qui manu lato crispat capilla ferro."

"He himself steps having been accompanied together with Achates, who curls the hair by means of broad iron with the hand."

However, I don't think that Vergil would appreciate this pun on the word "crispo," especially because he wrote the Aeneid partially as a way to incite Roman values. These values undoubtedly would not include having pretty, curled hair. This use of crispo is the only one in the AP syllabi of Ovid/Catullus and Vergil. The word occurs only 30 times in all of Latin literature, according to Perseus.

And now, for a non sequitur! There was an English word of the day from Wordsmith, 'quiddity', which has a dual meaning just as 'crispo' does and which is a rather obvious Latin derivative!