Etymologically
Log in

viva

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:25. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • /ˈviː.və/, /ˈvaɪ.və/[1]

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]

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