cătăracta | cătarracta, ae | cătarractes (noun F.m) : (also ), , f. (, , m., Plin. and Sol.;
* V.the foll.), = ὁ καταρράκτης or καταράκτης.
* Lit., a waterfall, in gen.; the waterfalls of the Euphrates, Plin. 5, 24, 20, § 85.—Hence
* Meton. and κατ̓ ἐξοχήυ, the celebrated fall of the Nile on the southern borders of Egypt, the Cataract: novissimo catarracte,Plin. 5, 9, 10, § 54.—Acc. catarracten, Plin. 5, 9, 10, § 59; Sol. 32: pervenit ad cataractam,Vitr. 8, 2, 6.—Plur. fem.: cataractae, nobilis insigni spectaculo locus,Sen. Q. N. 4, 2, 4: praecipites cataractae,Luc. 10, 317; Amm. 22, 15, 9.
* In milit. lang., a drawbridge, portcullis, Veg. Mil. 4, 4; Liv. 27, 28, 10 and 11.
* A water-sluice, floodgate, Plin. Ep. 10, 61 (69), 4; Rutil. 1, 481 Zumpt.
* A waterbird (that pounces down quickly), Plin. 10, 44, 61, § 126.

s. TLL