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
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Craft beer drinkers know Pliny the Elder as the inspiration for his namesake double IPA.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2026
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.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
During the late 2000s, when Pliny the Younger became the most sought-after ale in North America, Brouwer’s had kegs of the triple IPA squirrelled away.
From Seattle Times • May 28, 2024
For instance, Pliny the Elder, the ancient Roman author and philosopher, developed 27 different medical remedies using onions, ranging from curing bad vision and insomnia, to healing dysentery, mouth sores and toothaches.
From Salon • Mar. 11, 2024
This explains why there are no parts of the body named after Hippocrates or Galen, no stars named after Ptolemy, no creatures named after Aristotle or Pliny.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
