Etymologically
Log in

vappa

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 15:44. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈwap.pa][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈvap.pa][1]

Forms

vappa f (genitive vappae); first declension[1]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[2][3] The OLD compares vapidus (“flat, of wine”),[2] which Wiktionary derives from vapor (“steam, vapour”);[1] Lewis and Short and Georges likewise connect the noun with that word.[4][5] Köbler refers it, with a question mark, to Proto-Indo-European *u̯ēp- (“to blow, steam”).[3] For the word for steam itself de Vaan, following Schrijver, gives Proto-Indo-European *kʷuh₂ep-s- (“smoke”).[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler records it first in Catullus,[3] who uses it of a man, cum istō vappā, “with that good-for-nothing”; the OLD identifies him as Piso.[2]

Semantic evolution

Its literal sense is wine that has gone flat: Horace uses it so in the Satires,[4][7] and Pliny the Elder explains that wine which ferments again of its own accord loses its flavour and takes the name vappa, which is also a reproach for people whose spirit has degenerated.[4] Persius has a man bleary-eyed from such wine, vappā lippus.[5]

Applied to people and treated as masculine, it means a worthless, spoiled fellow, a good-for-nothing or spendthrift, the opposite of a homō frūgī:[5][2] in Horace, Fufidius fears the reputation of a vappa and nebulō, and in the Priapea the rustic gods call themselves vappae, worthless little deities.[2]

Medieval writers used it of stale wine, and glossaries describe it as poor or watered wine.[8] Osbern of Gloucester, quoting Horace, took the word for a servant.[8]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus calls a man a vappa.[2][3]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses it of flat wine and of worthless men.[2][4]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder explains the name of spoiled wine.[4]
  • 1st century AD – The Priapea uses it of humble rustic gods.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Wine that has gone flat, vapid wine.[2][4]
  2. (transferred, masculine) A worthless or spoiled fellow, a good-for-nothing.[2][4][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin, in glossaries) Poor or watered wine.[8]
  • vapidus
  • vapor
  • English vapid

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press