Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Capreolus

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

CAPRE'OLUS. Literally a roe-buck or chamois; and thence an instrument used in husbandry, for raking up and loosening the soil, formed with two iron prongs (Columell. xi. 3. 46.), converging together like the horns of the chamois, as shown by the annexed figure (Capreolus/1.1), which is copied from an ancient ivory carving in the Florentine Gallery, where it appears in the hands of a figure standing, with a goat by its side, in the midst of a vineyard, thus identifying its object and name.

2. (συγκύπτης). A brace or strut in carpentry; i. e. a piece of timber placed in a slanting position in a trussed partition, or in the frame of a roof (E E in the illustration (Capreolus/2.1)), in order to form a triangle by which the whole construction is made stronger and firmer. In this sense, the word is mostly used in the plural, because they are generally inserted in pairs, meeting together at bottom, and diverging upwards, like the horns of the chamois. Caes. B. C. ii. 10. Vitruv. iv. 2. 1.

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  Capreolus/1.1
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  Capreolus/2.1