Pliny
Americannoun
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the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus, a.d. 23–79, Roman naturalist, encyclopedist, and writer.
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his nephew (“the Younger,” Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus ) a.d. 62?–c113, Roman writer, statesman, and orator.
noun
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known as Pliny the Elder. Latin name Gaius Plinius Secundus. 23–79 ad , Roman writer, the author of the encyclopedic Natural History (77)
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his nephew, known as Pliny the Younger. Latin name Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus. ?62–?113 ad , Roman writer and administrator, noted for his letters
Other Word Forms
- Plinian adjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Your man—Pliny—he traveled here, through the waybetween. He said he would tell people about me when he returned. You should know about me!”
From Literature
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Craft beer drinkers know Pliny the Elder as the inspiration for his namesake double IPA.
From Los Angeles Times
The 17-year-old Pliny was at Misenum, approximately 18 miles from the volcano, but even there “you could hear the wailing of women, the cries of babies, the shouting of men.”
Pliny the Elder judged that the hare “is born to be all creatures’ prey.”
Two thousand years ago, the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder described a man named Pomponius who could not belch.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.