"V" Word Origins

viewless

Origin

From view + -less.

viewpoint

Origin

A straightforward compound of "view" and "point."

vig

Russian

A shortening of "vigorish," itself borrowed via Yiddish from a Russian word meaning "winnings."

vigenary

Origin

From Latin vīgēnus (“twenty each”), variant of vīcēnus, + -ary. Cognate with English vicenary and vicenarious.

vigil

Latin

From Latin vigilia ("wakefulness, a watch"), from vigil ("awake") — the same root that gives us "vigilant" and "vigour."

vigilance

Latin

From Latin vigilantia, from vigil ("awake, watchful").

vigilant

Latin

From Latin vigilans ("staying awake"), the present participle of vigilare, from vigil ("awake").

vigilante

Latin

Borrowed from Spanish vigilante ("watchman, guard"), from Latin vigilans ("watchful") — a doublet of "vigilant."

vigilous

Origin

From vigil + -ous.

vigor

Latin

From Latin vigor 'liveliness, activity', from vigere 'to be lively or flourish'.

vigorous

Latin

From Old French vigoros, from Latin vigor ("liveliness, strength").

vigorously

Origin

Formed from "vigorous" plus the adverb ending "-ly."

vigour

Latin

From Old French vigour, from Latin vigor, from vigeo ("to thrive, flourish") — related to "vigil" and "vigorous."

Vijay

Origin

Transliteration of Hindi विजय (vijay).

Vik

Origin

Borrowed from Norwegian.

vika

Origin

Borrowed from Pijin (a Solomon Islands creole), itself from a local Vangunu-language word for the animal.

Viking

Old Norse

From Old Norse víkingr, itself from vík ("inlet, bay") plus a suffix meaning "one belonging to" — roughly, "one who raids from the inlets."

vikki

Origin

20th-century fanciful respelling of Vicky.

Vikram

Sanskrit

From Hindi विक्रम (vikram), from Sanskrit विक्रम (vikrama).

vila

Origin

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian and Slovene vila, a term for this folkloric spirit.

vile

Latin

From Old French vil, from Latin vilis, originally meaning "cheap" or "of low value" before it took on the sense of moral worthlessness.

vilify

Origin

From Late Latin vīlificāre (“vilify”). Equivalent to vile + -ify. Compare vilipend.

vilipend

Origin

From Middle English vilipenden (“to treat (something) as contemptible”) [and other forms], from Old French vilipender (modern French vilipender (“to condemn, despise, revile, scorn, vilipend, vilify”)), or its etymon Latin vilipendō, from vīlis (“cheap, inexpensive; base, mean, vile, worthless”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- (“to buy, sell”)) + pendō (“to hang, suspend; to weigh, weigh out; (figuratively) to consider, ponder”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pend- (“to stretch”)). The English word is cognate with Italian vilipendere (“to despise, scorn, vilipend”), Portuguese vilipendiar (“to vilify”), Spanish vilipendiar (“to vilify”).

villa

Latin

From Italian villa, going back to Latin vīlla, "country house."

village

Latin

From Old French village, from Latin vīllāticus, related to villa.

villager

Origin

From village + the agent suffix -er.

villain

Late Latin

From Old French vilein ("peasant, farmhand"), from Late Latin vīllānus, someone tied to working a country estate (villa). Its meaning shifted over centuries from simply "peasant" to "wicked person," as the upper classes came to see country folk as coarse or untrustworthy.

villainhood

Origin

From villain + -hood.

villainize

Origin

From villain + -ize.

villainly

Origin

From villain + -ly.

villainous

Old French

From Old French vileneus, from villain.

villainousness

Origin

From villainous + -ness.

villainy

Old French

From Old French vilenie, related to villain.

Villanueva

Spanish

From Spanish Villanueva. Common surname in the Philippines and Mexico.

ville

French

From French ville, "town," a doublet of villa.

villeinage

Origin

From Middle English vilenage, villeinage, villenage, from Old French vilenage, villenage, Anglo-Norman vileinage, villeinage, and Medieval Latin vileināgium, villenāgium. By surface analysis, villein + -age.

Villeneuve

French

Borrowed from French Villeneuve (literally “Newtown, new town”).

Villiers

French

From French Villiers.

vim

Origin

Possibly from Latin vim, accusative singular of vīs (“force, power, strength; (New Latin) energy, force”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- (“to chase, pursue”); compare English vis); but perhaps a modern expressive formation.

vinaceous

Origin

Borrowed from Late Latin vinaceus, from Latin vinum.

vinaigrette

Origin

Borrowed from French vinaigrette. Sense 4 (“type of Russian salad”) is a semantic loan from Russian винегре́т (vinegrét), whence also the doublet vinegret.

Vinay

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit विनय (vinaya), meaning ideal behavior, humility, civility, courtesy, intellect.

Vincent

Latin

Borrowed from French Vincent, from Latin Vincentius, from vincēns (“conquering”), from the verb vincō.

Vincenzo

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Vincenzo.

vincible

Origin

From Latin vincibilis (“conquerable”), from vincere (“to conquer”).

vinculum

Origin

From Latin vinculum (“bond, link”), from vinciō (“bind, fetter, tie”) + -ulum.

vindaloo

Portuguese

From Portuguese vin d'alho, "wine and garlic sauce," carried to Goa by Portuguese settlers and reworked into a fiery Indian curry.

vindicate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin vindicātus, perfect passive participle of vindicō (“lay legal claim to something; set free; protect, avenge, punish”), from vim, accusative singular of vīs (“force, power”), + dīcō (“say; declare, state”). See avenge.