Etymologically
Log in

vectura

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 20 October 2026 at 13:23. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [wɛkˈtuː.ra][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [vekˈtuː.ra][1]

Forms

vectūra f (genitive vectūrae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin vehō (“to carry”) + -ūra, built on the participle stem ⟨vect-⟩.[2][3][4] De Vaan traces vehō to Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-e/o- (“to carry”), cognate with Sanskrit वहति (váhati, “carries, conveys”) and Umbrian arveitu (“let him add”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus uses it in the Mostellaria, of a price paid for two doorposts, carriage not included.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is the carrying of goods or passengers, by land or by sea:[2][3] Varro has horses fit for carrying loads and says that roads and nearby rivers make a farm more profitable by giving means of transport.[2][3] Cicero sends someone to pay for carriage in a letter to Atticus,[3] and Seneca uses it of the fare paid for a passage by sea.[2] The Digest speaks of the carriage of goods.[3] In Medieval Latin it is a compulsory transport service.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus, of carriage of goods.[2][4][6]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro, of means of transport.[2][6]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero, of payment for carriage.[3][6]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca, of a passenger's fare.[2][6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Carrying, conveyance, transport (of goods or passengers, by land or sea); means of transport.[2][3][1]
  2. The money paid for carriage, passage money, fare.[2][3][1]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A compulsory transport service.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 e f g h Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de