vĕtustas (noun F) : id.
* Old age, age, long existence.
* Lit.
* In gen.: municipium vetustate antiquissimum,Cic. Phil. 3, 6, 15: vetustate possessionis se, non jure defendunt,id. Agr. 2, 21, 57: tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas,Verg. A. 3, 415: tum senior: quamvis obstet mihi tarda vetustas; Multaque me fugiant, etc., = senectus,Ov. M. 12, 182.—Plur.: quae familiarnm vetustatibus aut pecuniis ponderantur,Cic. Rep. 1, 31, 47.
* Transf.
* Long duration, great age: quae mihi videntur habitura etiam vetustatem,i.e. will have a long duration,Cic. Att. 14, 9, 2: scripta vetustatem si modo nostra ferent,Ov. Tr. 5, 9, 8: vinum in vetustatem servare, till it becomesold, acquires age, Cato, R. R. 114, 2: terebinthi materies fidelis ad vetustatem,Plin. 13, 6, 12, § 54; Quint. 10, 1, 40; Col. 3, 2, 19; Cels. 3, 14: conjuncti vetustate, officiis, benevolentiā,i. e. long intimacy, ancient friendship,Cic. Fam. 13, 32, 2; 10, 10, 2; 11, 16, 2; Q. Cic. Pet. Cons. 5, 16.
* Hence, posterity, the remote future (conceived as a time when this age will have become ancient): de me semper omnes gentes loquentur, nulla umquam obmutescet vetustas,Cic. Mil. 35, 98: si qua fidem tanto est operi latura vetustas,Verg. A. 10, 792 Ladew. and Forbig. ad loc.; cf.: quis hoc credat, nisi sit pro teste vetustas,Ov. M. 1, 400.
* In medic. lang.: ulcerum,i. e. inveterate ulcers,Cels. 5, 26, 31; Plin. 21, 19, 74, § 127.