(verb) : rōro, āvi, ātum, 1, and
* A. [ros], to let fall, drop, or distil dew (syn. stillo).
* Lit.
* 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.
* Transf., to drop, trickle, drip, distil.
* 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.
* 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.— *
* Trop., to drop, distil, etc.: si minutis illis suis et rorantibus responsionibus satisfaciet consulenti,Macr. S. 7, 9.