vago

vago¹ vague; wandering

Etymology tree of vago¹

inherited borrowed derived

Latin vagus

French vague

Romanian vag

Italian vago

From the same root · vago¹

Latin montivagus ← vagus

Latin vagor ← vagus

Pronunciation

• /ˈva.ɡo/^[1]

Forms

vago (feminine vaga, masculine plural vaghi, feminine plural vaghe, superlative vaghissimo)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “vague, wandering” is learned: it is borrowed from Latin vagus (“wandering, roving; unsteady”).^[2][3][4][1] DEI places the Latin word in Italy and the western Romance area, with Old French vai, Spanish vago and Portuguese vago, and takes the sense “vague, indefinite” from French vague in the 16th century.^[5][6]

DELI notes that the original sense was taken up in the 14th century, but that a reworked text had used it even earlier for “capricious, fickle”, the sense behind vaghezza “coquetry” in Francesco da Barberino and vagheggiare.^[2] The anatomical noun is an ellipsis of nervo vago, so called because the nerve branches out in many directions from the brain.^[3][5]

The origin of the Latin word is unknown.^[2][7][3] De Vaan tentatively reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *h₂wog-ó- and compares Germanic verbs for tottering such as Old Norse vakka and Old High German wankōn; the OLD compares vacillō (“to totter”).^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI and GRADIT give the earliest date to Dante (1304–1308), with the sense “desirous, eager”: all'ombra che parea più vaga / di ragionar drizza'mi, “I turned to the shade that seemed more eager to talk”.^[2][10][11]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio uses the adjective constantly of women (1348–1353), and in him it sums up praise of every kind, “lovely, graceful”; in Petrarch it became a purely ornamental, lyrical word, as it remained in much later poetry.^[2] Petrarch (1374) also has the original sense “wandering”, as in le stelle vaghe, the planets.^[2][11] Boccaccio also has the noun “lover”: vedi tu quello scioccone? egli è il mio vago, “see that fool? He is my lover”.^[12][10] In 1540–1541 Firenzuola set out three senses of vago: moving from place to place, desire, and beauty, and Florio (1598) gives some fifty synonyms.^[2] Leopardi's Vaghe stelle dell'Orsa keeps the literary sense “lovely”.^[11][13]

The everyday modern sense “vague, indefinite” is late: DELI dates it to Petrocchi (1891), who notes that the adjective then always follows its noun.^[2] Anatomists called the tenth pair of cranial nerves the paio vago in the 18th century, “because it goes spreading and branching through the whole body”, and the noun vago is dated 1840.^{[2][5][3][11]}

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – Dante uses vago for “desirous”.^[2][10]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses vagheggiare.^[2]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “lovely, graceful”.^[2]
• 1374 – Petrarch uses it for “wandering”.^[2]
• Before 1494 – Poliziano uses it for what awakens regret.^[2]
• Before 1566 – Vagolare is first recorded, in Annibal Caro.^[2]
• 18th century – The paio vago of nerves is named.^[5][2]
• 1840 – Vago is used as a noun for the vagus nerve.^[3][11][14]
• 1891 – Petrocchi records the sense “vague, indefinite”.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. vague, uncertain, unclear: Ho solo un vago ricordo di quella sera.^[10][11][14]
2. Of a person: imprecise or evasive in speech: È rimasto vago sulle date.^[10][11]
3. (literary) Wandering, roving, moving freely.^[10][11][14]
4. (literary) Lovely, graceful, charming.^[10][11][14]
5. (literary) Desirous, eager, with di.^[10][11][14]
6. (literary) Arousing longing or regret.^[10][15]
7. (anatomy) In nervo vago, the vagus nerve.^[15][16]

Noun

1. What is vague or indefinite, in phrases such as restare sul vago.^[10][14][13]
2. (anatomy) The vagus nerve, the tenth pair of cranial nerves.^[11][14][17]
3. (archaic, literary) A lover.^[10][11][12]

Word family

• vagheggiare
• vagheggiamento
• vagheggino
• vaghezza
• vagolare
• vagamente
• vagale
• vagotonia
• vagotonico
• invaghire

vago² grain, berry

Etymology tree of vago²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin bāca

Italian vago

From the same root · vago²

Latin bācula ← bāca

Pronunciation

• /ˈva.ɡo/^[1]

Forms

vago m (plural vaghi)^[1]

Etymology

The word for “grain, berry” is a central Italian dialect word: it is inherited from Latin bāca (“berry”), which became masculine.^{[3][10][16][1]}

The same Latin word survives in French baie, Old Occitan baga, Spanish baga and Portuguese baga, whence bago (“each grape of a bunch”).^[18][6] Its variant spelling with -cc- gave bacca, which the etymological dictionaries consider learned.^[18] The origin of the Latin word is unknown; de Vaan considers a borrowing from a substrate language, shared with a Berber word for the blackberry.^[9][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEI and GRADIT date the word to 1931, in Panzini.^[5][10] The LEI records Roman vago “grape” in 1846, and baco “grain of wheat” at Todi in the late 18th century.^[18]

Semantic evolution

The LEI lists the word from southern Tuscany and Umbria to Lazio, Abruzzo and the Marche, for a grain of wheat or maize, a grape or a bean: vágo at Vallerona, vago on Monte Amiata, báku at Foligno, váko at Velletri, vákə in the Marche and Abruzzo.^[18][6] The Marchigian vago and Roman vako are in the REW too.^[6] In Italian it is a regional word for a grain or berry, and also for a coffee bean or a rosary bead.^[10][1]

Timeline

• Second half of the 18th century – Baco “grain of wheat” is recorded at Todi.^[18]
• 1846 – Roman vago “grape” is recorded.^[18]
• 1931 – Panzini records vago in Italian.^[5][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (regional) A grain or berry; a single grape of a bunch: Staccava i vaghi dal grappolo uno alla volta.^[10][16][1]
2. (regional) A coffee bean.^[1]
3. (regional) A bead of a rosary.^[1]