scirpus

Definitiones

1. a rush, bulrush
   declension-2, masculine
2. riddle, enigma
   declension-2, figuratively, masculine

Aequivalentia

Exempla

“CHREMĒS: At mihi ūnus scrūpulus etiam restat, quī mē male habet. PAMPHILUS: Dignus es / cum tuā religiōne odium: nōdum in scirpō quaeris.”

CHREMES: But one little doubt still remains for me, which troubles me greatly. PAMPHILUS: You and your over-scrupulous manner merits [our] disapproval: you’re looking for a knot in a bulrush. (Literally, the unlikelihood of finding a tangled knot growing in a tall reed. Figuratively, the proverbial expression refers to overthinking things, searching for a difficulty where there is none.)

Gradus CEFR