v. rare. [f. L. aprīcāt- ppl. stem of aprīcā-ri to bask in the sun, f. aprīcus exposed (to the sun).]
1. int. To bask in the sun.
a. 1691. ? in Boyle; see Todd.
a. 1697. Aubrey, in Halliwell s.v. Toms-of-Bedlam, His lordship was wont to recreate himself in this place, to apricate and contemplate.
1704. Ray, Lett. to Aubrey, II. 159 (T.). Cesar, I think, said that ‘verbum insolens tanquam scopulum fugiendum est.’ I’ll name you one or two, to Apricate, suscepted, vesicate.
2. trans. To expose to sunlight. Also transf.
1851. De Quincey, Wks., XIII. 16. To apricate and refresh old gouty systems and old traditions. Ibid. (a. 1858), Autobiog. Sk., vi. Wks. II. 337. Not sunning, but mooning himself—apricating himself in the occasional moonbeams.
