vial

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English viole, a variant of fiole,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} the Middle English form of phial.^{[7][8][9][10]} Fiole is partly borrowed from Middle French fiole, from Medieval Latin phiola, and partly borrowed from Latin phiala (“a broad, shallow dish”),^[7] which is from Ancient Greek φιάλη (phiálē, “a flat vessel, a broad flat bowl”),^[7][8][4] a loanword of unknown origin.^[8][4] The spelling with v- for f- is irregular;^[8][7] Collins traces the French word through Old Occitan fiola.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

In figurative use: 1382, in the early Wycliffite Bible's Revelation (15:7), of the vials of God's wrath.^[7] The literal sense, a vessel for liquids, follows in Chaucer's Canon's Yeoman's Tale (c. 1386).^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant a vessel of small or moderate size for liquids, and later specifically a small glass bottle.^[7][12] Weekley notes its special use in the biblical vials of wrath (Revelation 16:1),^[13] and Merriam-Webster records the figurative pour out the vials of one's wrath or scorn.^[6] Johnson (1755) simply defined it as a small bottle, quoting Shakespeare.^[14] Merriam-Webster also lists the glass tube holding the liquid in a spirit level.^[6] In British English phial remains the commoner form, Collins treating vial as a less common variant.^[11] A verb, to put into a vial, is recorded from 1805.^[7]

Timeline

• 1382 – in figurative use, of the vials of God's wrath.^[7]
• c. 1386 – a vessel for liquids; later a small glass bottle.^[7]
• 1805 – verb, to put into a vial.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small glass or plastic bottle for a medicine, perfume or chemical: a vial of insulin.^[6][11]
2. The glass tube holding the liquid in a spirit level.^[6]
3. (figurative) A container of something immaterial, as in the vials of wrath.^[6][13]

Related words

• phial

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Mayhew, A. L.; Skeat, Walter W. (1888), A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.