vieo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈwi.e.oː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviː.e.o]^[1]

Forms

vieō (present infinitive viēre, supine viētum); second conjugation, no perfect stem^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *wijeje/o- (“to plait”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *u̯h₁i-éie- (“to plait”), from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- (“to twist, twine”).^[2][1] Cognate with Sanskrit व्ययति (vyáyati, “winds, wraps”), Ancient Greek ἴτυς (ítus, “felloe, rim”), Lithuanian výti (“to twist”) and Old Church Slavonic вити (viti, “to twist”).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Ennius,^[2] quoted by Varro: “the soft ones went to weave a wreath for Venus”.^[4] Köbler dates Ennius 204–169 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to bend or twist into basketwork, to plait or weave, and Varro glosses viēre as vincīre “to bind”.^[3][4] Lewis and Short call it ante-classical.^[4] It had no perfect.^[1]

Its family includes vīmen “a pliant twig for wickerwork”, viētor “basket-maker” and vitta “headband”, and perhaps viēscō “to shrivel”, through viētus “woven, wrinkled”.^[2]

Timeline

• 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of weaving a wreath.^[4][5]
• 116–27 BC – Varro explains it as “to bind”.^[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bend, twist; to plait, weave.^[3][1]

Related words

• vīmen
• vitta
• English wire
• English withy

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e 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