viva

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian viva (“(long) live!”), the third person singular present subjunctive of vivere (“to live”),^[2][3][4][5] from Latin vīvō (“to live”).^[2][3][6] Spanish has the same form, Spanish viva, from vivir, and Etymonline and Barnhart think English probably borrowed it again from Spanish by 1836.^[3][4] English also used the Latin form vivat from the 1660s,^[3][7] and Etymonline compares French vive.^[3] The British noun and verb for an oral examination, pronounced /ˈvaɪvə/,^[8][2] are short for viva voce,^[2][7][8][5] the ablative of Latin vīva vōx (“living voice”).^[3][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A shout of "long live!", a cheer, at first as a noun in the plural vivas: about 1660, in Evelyn's diary, in the entry for 1644.^[2] Barnhart dates the word to 1644,^[4] Etymonline to the 1640s,^[3] and Merriam-Webster to 1682.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word was a cry or cheer wishing long life and prosperity to an admired person or thing, or expressing approval of it.^[5][2] It is recorded as an exclamation from 1842, in Barham's Ingoldsby Legends.^[2] The British academic sense comes from viva voce, "by word of mouth", recorded from 1581;^[2][3] that phrase was used of examinations conducted by speech from 1815, and as a noun for such an examination from 1842.^[2] The shortened noun viva is recorded from 1891 and the verb, to examine a candidate orally, from 1893.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1660 – noun, in the plural vivas, cheers of "long live!".^[2] Barnhart dates the word to 1644.^[4]
• 1836 – probably borrowed again from Spanish.^[3][4]
• 1842 – as an exclamation.^[2]
• 1891 – noun, an oral examination, short for viva voce.^[2]
• 1893 – verb, to examine orally.^[2]

Meanings

Interjection

1. Long live!; used to cheer or salute a person or thing: Viva the champions!^[8][9][5]

Noun

1. A cry of "viva"; a cheer.^[2][5]
2. (British) An oral examination; a viva voce.^[8][9][2]

Verb

1. (British) To examine a candidate orally.^[8][2][5]

Related words

• vivat
• vive
• vivid
• vital
• quick
• revive

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster