āĕrĭus (quadrisyl.), more rar. āĕrĕ-us, a, um, adj., = a)e/rios.I.Pertaining to the air, aërial (a poet. word, which Cic. uses only in higher flights of speech): volucres, Lucr. 5, 825; Cic. Univ. 10: volatus avium atque cantus, id. Top. 20: aërias vias carpere,
their way in the air
, Ov. A. A. 2, 44: aërias tentăsse domos, the heavens, Hor. C. 1, 28, 5 al.—Hence aërium mel, because the bee was believed to collect its honey from falling dew, Verg. G. 4, 1. —II.Rising aloft, airy, high.—So esp. of mountains: Alpes, Verg. G. 3, 474; Ov. M. 2, 226: aërio vertice Taurus, Tib. 1, 7, 15 (aetherio, Müll.): cacumen, Cat. 64, 240 al. —Of trees: quercus, Verg. A. 3, 680: ulmus, id. E. 1, 59.—Of other things: arces, Verg. A. 3, 291: (capra) cornibus aëriis, Ov. F. 5, 119.—B. Aëria spes, airy, i. e. quickly flying away, vain, fleeting, transitory, Arn. 2, p. 86.