| 释义 |
pedarian, a. and n. Rom. Antiq.|pɪˈdɛərɪən|
[f. L. pedāri-us of or belonging to a foot, of a foot long, also in pedarii senatores (see below); f. ped-em foot: see -ary1 and -an.]
a. adj. Applied to Roman senators of an inferior grade, who ‘had no vote of their own, but could merely signify their assent to that of another’.
b. n. A pedarian senator.
The reason of the appellation is not rightly known: see the Latin Dictionaries.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Pedarian, in antiquity, those senators who signified their votes by their feet, not their tongues; that is, such as walked over to the side of those whose opinion they approved of, in divisions of the house. |