"V" Word Origins

Vanderbilt

Dutch

From Dutch van der Bilt, from van+der+De Bilt or Bilt. Literally, “from De Bilt, Netherlands”.

vane

Old English

From Old English fana, "cloth, banner, flag," the same root that gave German Fahne. The weather-vane sense comes from early flag-like devices used to show wind direction before the familiar spinning arrow design took over.

Vanessa

Origin · 1700

Invented in the early 1700s by the writer Jonathan Swift as a pet name for his friend Esther Vanhomrigh — he took "Van" from her surname and added "-essa." The name later attached to the butterfly genus as well.

vanguard

Old French

From Old French avant-garde, literally "before guard" — the part of a force that goes ahead of the main body. It's a doublet of the French loanword avant-garde, used today for pioneering artists and ideas.

vani

Origin

Borrowed from a term in Pakistani regional languages for this traditional dispute-settlement practice.

vanilla

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish vainilla, literally "little pod" — a diminutive of vaina ("pod" or "sheath"), referring to the shape of the vanilla bean. The figurative sense of "plain" or "basic" grew out of vanilla being the default, unadorned ice cream flavor.

vanish

Latin

A shortened form of the older word evanish, going back through Old French esvanir to Latin evanescere — "to fade out" — built from vanus, meaning "empty." It's a doublet of "evanesce."

vanitas

Origin

From Latin vānitās. Doublet of vanity.

vanity

Latin

From Old French vanité, from Latin vanitas — built on vanus, "empty" or "vain." The bathroom-furniture sense is a much later, purely English development, from the dressing tables once used for personal grooming.

vanna

Greek

A made-up finance term, coined to sound like a Greek letter and echo the related term "vega."

vanquish

Latin

From Old French veincre, going back to Latin vincere, "to conquer" — the same root that gives us "convince" and "invincible."

vanquishable

Origin

From vanquish + -able.

vanquisher

Origin

From vanquish + -er.

vantage

Middle English

Formed by dropping the first syllable of "advantage" in Middle English — so "vantage" and "advantage" are, historically, the same word.

Vanya

Russian

Romanization of Russian and Ukrainian Ва́ня (Vánja, “Johnny”), a diminutive of Ива́н (Iván), Іван (Ivan, “John”)

vapid

Latin

From Latin vapidus, "flat, having lost its flavor" — originally used of wine or drinks that had gone stale, from the same root as "vapor."

vapor

Latin

From Old French vapor, from Latin vapor, "steam" or "heat." The American spelling drops the British "u" found in "vapour."

vaporize

Origin

Built from "vapor" plus the verb-forming suffix "-ize," meaning "to make into" or "to turn into."

vaporlike

Origin

From vapor + -like.

vaporous

Origin

From Middle English vaporous, from Late Latin vapōrōsus (“full of steam”), from Latin vapor (“exhalation; smoke; steam, vapour”) (possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *kwep- (“to boil; to smoke, steam; aroma; strong odour”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns). The English word is analysable as vapour + -ous. Possibly a doublet of hope. Cognates * French vaporeux (“misty, vaporous; filmy, transparent”) * Italian vaporoso (“flimsy, gauzy; fluffy; vaporous”) * Portuguese vaporoso * Spanish vaporoso (“airy; vaporous”)

vapulate

Origin

Borrowed from Latin vāpulō.

Varda

Origin

After Varda, Queen of the Valar, in Tolkien's Elvish legendarium.

varenyky

Origin

From Ukrainian варе́ники pl (varényky), singular варе́ник (varényk), and related terms in other languages, e.g. Russian варе́ники (varéniki) and (particularly in Mennonite communities) Plautdietsch Wareniki. The Ukrainian term comes from ва́рений (várenyj, “boiled”), from вари́ти (varýty, “to boil, to cook”), from Old East Slavic варити (variti), from Proto-Slavic *variti (“to cook”) + masculine ending -ик (-yk). Compare вар (var, “boiling liquid; cooking, boiling”), from Proto-Slavic *varъ, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to burn, blacken”).

Varga

Origin

Multiple sources, including: * Hungarian Varga, from varga (“shoemaker”) * Spanish Varga, from toponyms * phonetic respelling of Polish Warga, from warga (“lip”)

Vargas

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Vargas. This surname is predominantly found in Mexico and Colombia.

variability

Origin

Derived form of variable, from Old French variable; see variable + -ity.

variable

Latin

From Old French variable, from Latin variare, "to change," based on varius, "different, varied."

variance

Latin

From Old French variance, ultimately from Latin variantia, related to variare, "to change."

variant

Latin · 1380

From Old French variant, the present participle of Latin variare, "to change." First recorded in English around 1380.

variate

Origin

From Latin variatus, past participle of variare. See vary.

variation

Latin

From Old French variacion, from Latin variatio, from variare, "to vary, to change."

varicose

Latin

From Latin varix, meaning a swollen or twisted vein, ultimately tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root connected to words for "top" or "ridge."

varify

Origin

From vary + -fy.

variola

Origin

From Middle English variolas pl (“pustules, pocks”), from Medieval Latin or Medical Latin variola (“infectious disease causing pustules; pox”), from Latin varius. Doublet of variole.

various

Latin

From Latin varius, "different, diverse, changeable" — the same root that gives us "vary" and "variety."

varlet

Origin

From Middle English varlet, varlette, from Old French varlet, variant of vadlet, vallet, vaslet. Doublet of valet.

varmint

Latin

A dialect variant of "vermin," which traces back to Latin vermis, "worm." It became strongly associated with rural American English, especially in hunting contexts.

varnish

Medieval Latin

From Old French vernis, tracing back through Medieval Latin to the Greek name for a town in North Africa (Berenice) once linked to resin production.

varsity

Origin · 1600

A clipped, altered form of "university," reflecting an old British pronunciation. First recorded in the mid-1600s.

Varun

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit वरुण (váruṇa, “Varuna”).

varvara

Origin

Borrowed from Russian Варва́ра (Varvára). Doublet of Barbara.

varve

Origin

Borrowed from Swedish varv (“layer”).

vary

Latin

From Old French varier, from Latin variare, "to change, make different," based on varius, "various."

Vas

Latin

Borrowed from Latin vās (“vessel”) around 1645 through 1655. Doublet of vase.

vasa

Origin

From the Malagasy word vaza.

vasal

Origin

From Latin vās + -al. By surface analysis, vas + -al.

vascular

New Latin

From New Latin vascularis, based on Latin vasculum, a little vessel, itself a diminutive of vas, "vessel."

vasculitis

Origin

From vasculo- + -itis.