vi

Forms

vi m (plural vins)^[1] Old Catalan wrote vi and vin;^[1] Faraudo also has vy.^[1][2] The DCVB records /bí/ and /ví/;^[1] Wiktionary gives /ˈbi/ for Central, Northern and North-Western Catalan and /ˈvi/ for Balearic and Valencian.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan vi, also written ⟨vin⟩, which is inherited from Latin vīnum (“wine”).^[3][4][5][1] The Old Catalan variant ⟨vin⟩ and the plural ⟨vins⟩ keep the /n/ of the Latin word.^[1]

The same Latin word is Italian vino, French vin, Occitan vin, Spanish vino, Portuguese vinho and Romanian vin.^[6][1]

The Latin noun comes from Proto-Italic *wīnom;^[1] Wiktionary takes it back to Proto-Indo-European *wóyh₁nom, and de Vaan sets up a Proto-Indo-European word for “vine; wine” and compares Ancient Greek οἶνος (oînos) and the Hittite word for wine.^[7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest text in CICA with the word is a testament of 1066.^[8] In the medieval texts it is the drink made from fermented grapes: Vicent Ferrer says that to the first men water tasted better que l millor vi del mon “than the best wine in the world”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word becomes frequent in the second half of the 13th century.^[8] The DCVB extends it to the fermented juice of other fruits and, figuratively, to whatever rouses enthusiasm or strong feeling.^[3] The DIEC2 records many set phrases: tenir bon vi and tenir mal vi, to be peaceful or quarrelsome when drunk, vi cristià for watered wine, and vi de pomes for cider.^[9]

The family of the Latin word gave Catalan verema “grape harvest”, from Latin vindemia, a compound of vinum and demere “to take away”, recorded in Jaume Roig in 1460;^[4] reví “second must” is in Torra's dictionary of 1653, and avinar in Labèrnia's of 1839.^[4]

Timeline

• 1066 – vi in a testament.^[8]
• 1250–1299 – the word is common in the texts of the second half of the 13th century.^[8]
• 1460 – verema, from the Latin compound vindemia, in Jaume Roig.^[4]
• 1653 – reví in Torra's dictionary.^[4]
• 1839 – avinar in Labèrnia's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. wine, the fermented juice of grapes: Van obrir una ampolla de vi negre per sopar.^[9][5][1]
2. The fermented juice of other fruits;^[10] vi de pomes is cider.^[9][3]
3. (figurative) Something that rouses enthusiasm or strong feeling.^[3]
4. tenir bon vi, tenir mal vi: to be good-humoured, or quarrelsome, when drunk.^[9]

Word family

• avinar
• envinar
• reví
• vinassa
• vinater
• vinateria
• viner
• vinet

Related words

• verema
• vinificar
• Latin vīnum
• Spanish vino

Usage notes

El vi de la bóta del racó is the oldest or best wine of the cellar.^[9] The DCVB also records a rare adjective vi meaning “old”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. vi
3. ^ a b c d e f Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. vi
4. ^ a b c d e f Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 966
5. ^ a b Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. vi
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9356
7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. vinum
8. ^ a b c d Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. vi
9. ^ a b c d e Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. vi
10. ^ Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 6, 58