cavillor, ātus, 1, v. n. and a. [cavilla], to practise jeering or mocking; or (act.) to censure, criticise; to satirize in jest or earnest, to jest, etc. (syn.: jocari, ludere, illudere). Absol.: familiariter cum ipso etiam cavillor ac jocor, Cic. Att. 2, 1, 5; cf. Liv. 39, 13, 3; 39, 42, 9; Suet. Tib. 8: facetissime apud aliquem, Gell. 5, 5, 1.

— With acc.: togam ejus praetextam, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 10 (12), 2: hanc artem ut tenuem ac jejunam, Quint. 1, 4, 5: verba patrum, Tac. A. 1, 46: tribunos plebis, Liv. 2, 58, 9: milites Romanos, id. 5, 15, 4 et saep.

—Hence, cavillatus in pass. sense, App. M. 9, p. 230.

— With an objective clause: in eo et etiam cavillatus est, aestate grave esse aureum amiculum, hieme frigidum, Cic. N. D. 3, 34, 83.

—* Meton., to reason captiously, to use sophisms, to quibble, Liv. 3, 20, 4; Plin. 11, 51, 112, § 267; 35, 10, 36, § 85.