vapidus

Forms

vapidus (feminine vapida, neuter vapidum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is apparently from Latin vapor (“steam”) + -idus,^[2][1][3] and the OLD compares vappa (“flat wine”);^[2] Georges and Köbler derive it from ⟨vappa⟩.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Columella is the first to use it, of wine that has gone flat.^[2][5][4]

Semantic evolution

It was said of wine that had lost its freshness, as if it had breathed out its spirit,^[2][3] and in Persius of pitch that spoils the taste.^[3][6] Persius also used it of a corrupt mind: astūtam vapidō servās sub pectore vulpem “under a rotten breast you keep a cunning fox”.^[3][4] English vapid was taken from it in the 1650s of flat drinks, and applied from 1758 to dull talk and writing.^[7]

Timeline

• 1st century AD – Columella uses it of flat wine.^[2][5]
• 34–62 AD – Persius uses it of pitch and of a corrupt heart.^[3][5]
• 1650s – English vapid.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (of wine) flat, that has lost its freshness, vapid.^[2][3]
2. Spoiled, bad.^[3][4]
3. (figurative) Corrupt.^[3][6]

Word family

• vapidē

Related words

• vapor
• vappa
• English vapid

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b 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