"V" Word Origins

vital

Latin

From Latin vitalis, "of life, life-giving," from vita, "life."

vitalic

Origin

Perhaps from vital + -ic.

vitalise

Origin

From vital + -ise.

vitality

Latin

From vital + -ity, via Latin vitalitas, "vital force."

vitalizer

Origin

From vitalize + -er.

vitally

Origin

From vital + -ly.

vitamin

Latin · 1912

Coined around 1912 as "vitamine" by biochemist Casimir Funk, from Latin vita ("life") + amine, since the first such compound found contained an amine group. British scientist Jack Drummond dropped the final "e" in 1920 once it became clear not all vitamins were amines.

vitellaria

Origin

From the genus name Vitellaria.

vitellus

Origin

From Latin vitellus (“the yolk of an egg”). Doublet of veal.

vitiate

Origin

PIE word *dwóh₁ From Latin vitiātus, the perfect passive participle of vitiō (“damage, spoil”), from vitium (“vice”).

vitiation

Origin

From Latin vitiare (“to spoil, damage”).

vitiligo

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin vitilīgō.

Vito

Latin

From the Latin "vita," meaning life.

vitreous

Origin

From Middle French vitreux, from Latin vitreus (“glassy, transparent”), from vitrum (“glass”). The terms vitreous (positive) and resinous (negative) electricity were coined in 1733 by Charles François de Cisternay du Fay, who studied the different behaviour of glass and resin when rubbed with silk and fur, respectively.

vituperate

Origin

PIE word *dwóh₁ Learned borrowing from Latin vituperātus (“censured; disparaged”), perfect passive participle of vituperō (“to blame, scold, tell off; to censure; to disparage, find fault with”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from vitium (“blemish, defect, flaw, imperfection; crime, misdeed, wrongdoing; fault, error, sin; vice; disease (of plants)”) (possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(d)wi-tyo- (“apart; wrong”), from *dwóh₁ (“two”)) + parō (“to acquire, get, obtain, procure; to arrange, order; to contrive, design; to furnish, provide; to produce; to decide, resolve”) (from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to get, procure; to produce; to bring forward; to bring forth, carry forth; to go through”)).

vituperation

Origin

From Latin vituperātiō (“censure, blame”), equivalent to vituperate + -ion.

vituperative

Origin

Formed from vituperātus, perfect passive participle of Latin vituperō (“to blame, to censure”) + -ive; by surface analysis, vituperate + -ive.

viva

Italian

Borrowed from Spanish and Italian viva, "long live."

vivacious

Latin

From Latin vivax, "lively, vigorous," from vivere, "to live."

vivacity

Origin

From Latin vīvācitās (whence -acity).

Vivaldi

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Vivaldi.

vive

Latin

From Latin vivus, "living" — related to vivid.

Vivek

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit विवेक (viveka), "discernment, wisdom."

Vivian

Latin

From Latin Vivianus/Viviana, probably from vivus, "alive."

Viviane

Latin

From French Viviane, from Latin vivus, "living."

vivid

Latin

From Latin vividus, "animated, spirited," from vivere, "to live." The felt-tip marker sense comes from the Vivid Marker brand name becoming generic.

vividly

Origin

From vivid + -ly.

vivificate

Origin

From Latin vīvificātus, past participle vīvificō. See vivify.

vivify

Origin

Borrowed from Old French vivifier, from Late Latin vivificō.

vixen

Old English

From Middle English fixen, ultimately from Old English fyxen, "female fox" — the fox/vixen -f/v- swap comes from southern English dialects.

Vizag

Origin

Abbreviation of Vizagpatnam, former name of Visakhapatnam.

vizard

Origin

An alteration of visor by confusion of the ending.

vizier

Arabic

From Ottoman Turkish vezir, from Arabic wazir, "helper, minister" — a doublet of the English word wazir.

Vlad

Romanian

A common Romanian given name, also used as a short form of Vladimir or Vladislav in Slavic languages.

Vladivostok

Russian

From Russian, meaning "ruler of the east."

vlog

Origin

A blend of "video" and "blog."

Vo

Origin

Borrowed from Vietnamese Võ.

vocabulary

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin vocabularium, from Latin vocabulum, "a word, name."

vocal

Latin

From Latin vocalis, "uttering a voice," from vox, "voice" — a doublet of vowel.

vocalist

Origin

From vocal + -ist.

vocally

Origin

From vocal + the adverb-forming suffix -ly.

vocation

Latin

From Latin vocatio, "a calling," from vocare, "to call" — the same root as "vocal" and "invoke."

vocational

Origin

From vocation + the adjective-forming suffix -al.

vocative

Origin

From Late Middle English [Term?], borrowed from Middle French vocatif, from Latin vocātīvus (“for calling”); a calque of Ancient Greek κλητῐκή (klētĭkḗ, “for calling; vocative case”) – from vocāre (“to call”), from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-, o-grade of *wekʷ- (“give vocal utterance, speak”). See Latin vōx.

vociferance

Origin

From Latin vōciferor (“shout”), from vōx (“voice”) + ferō (“carry”).

vociferation

Origin

From Latin vōciferātiō, from vōciferor (“shout”), from vōx (“voice”) + ferō (“carry”); compare French vocifération.

vociferous

Origin

From Latin vōcifer + -ous.

vodka

Russian

From Russian vodka, a diminutive of voda ("water") — literally something like "little water."