Etymologically
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vacillo

Etymology and origin of the Latin word vacillo

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Confidence
Unknown
First attested
Lucretius

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [waˈkɪl.loː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [vaˈt͡ʃil.lo][1]

Forms

vacillō (present infinitive vacillāre, perfect active vacillāvī, supine vacillātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It has no good etymology.[2][1] The OLD derives it from *wa-n-k-, as in convexus, comparing Sanskrit वञ्चति (vañcati, “moves to and fro”) and Sanskrit वक्र (vakrá, “crooked”).[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Lucretius, who scans the first syllable long.[2][4] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to be unsteady on one's feet, stagger, totter, as Cicero's man reeling with wine, and of things to be in a weak or precarious state, as accounts in disorder.[3][6] Of people and their feelings it meant to waver, lack firmness, as a wavering legion.[3] Lewis and Short call it a favourite word of Cicero.[4] It was also spelled vaccillō.[2][3]

It survives in French vaciller, Italian vacillare and Spanish vacilar.[1] English vacillate is recorded in the 1590s, and of wavering opinion from the 1620s.[7]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it often.[4][5]
  • 1590s – English vacillate is recorded.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To stagger, totter.[3]
  2. (of things) To be weak or precarious.[3]
  3. To waver.[3]
  • English vacillate

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
Cite this entry

“Vacillo.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/vacillo. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·