I.to cut off with a sharp instrument (diff. from ab-scindo, to break or tear off as with the hand); the former corresponds to praecidere, the latter to avellere, v. Liv. 31, 34, 4 Drak.
I. Lit.: “caput,” Cic. Phil. 11, 2, 5; Liv. 4, 19; Verg. A. 12, 511 al.; so, “membra,” Lucr. 3, 642: “bracchium,” Liv. 4, 28, 8: “collum,” Sil. 15, 473: “dextram,” Suet. Caes. 68: “linguam,” Plaut. Am. 2, 1, 7; Suet. Calig. 27 al.: “comas alicui,” Luc. 6, 568: “truncos arborum et ramos,” Caes. B. G. 7, 73, 2.—
II. Trop., to cut off, deprive of; to detract: “spem (alicui),” Liv. 4, 10, 4; 24, 30, 12; 35, 45, 6: “orationem alicui,” id. 45, 37, 9: “omnium rerum respectum sibi,” id. 9, 23, 12: “omnia praesidia,” Tac. H. 3, 78: “vocem,” Vell. 2, 66; cf. Quint. 8, 3, 85.—Absol.: “quarum (orationum) alteram non libebat mihi scribere, quia abscideram,” had broken off, Cic. Att. 2, 7.—Hence, abscīsus , a, um, P. a., cut off.
A. Of places, steep, precipitous (cf. abruptus): “saxum undique abscisum,” Liv. 32, 4, 5; so id. 32, 25, 36: “rupes,” id. 32, 5, 12.—
B. Of speech, abrupt, concise, short: “in voce aut omnino suppressā, aut etiam abscisā,” Quint. 8, 3, 85; 9, 4, 118 Halm (al. abscissa): “asperum et abscisum castigationis genus,” Val. Max. 2, 7, 14: “responsum,” id. 3, 8, 3: “sententia,” id. 6, 3, 10; cf. in comp.: “praefractior atque abscisior justitia,” id. 6, 5, ext. 4.—Sup. prob. not used.—Adv.: abscīsē , cut off; hence, of speech, concisely, shortly, distinctly, Val. Max. 3, 7, ext. 6; Dig. 50, 6, 5, § 2.