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vilicus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word vilicus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*weyḱ-)

Forms

vīlicus m (genitive vīlicī, feminine vīlica); second declension[1] It is also spelled villicus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from vīlla (“country house, farm”) with the suffix -icus, with the double /l/ simplified.[1][2][4] De Vaan derives ⟨vīlla⟩ from Proto-Italic *weikslā- (“farm”), from the family of vīcus (“village”), Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“settlement”), cognate with Sanskrit विश् (víś-, “settlement, people”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus is its first author in the OLD, with “why are you creeping about in town, you worthless bailiff?” in the Casina;[2][4] Köbler gives Cicero.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

It is the man, slave or free, in charge of running a farm or estate, the farm overseer, as in Cato, Varro and Cicero.[2][3] Under the Empire it was a grade of servant in public or imperial service, a manager or overseer, as in Frontinus on the aqueducts.[2]

Lewis and Short also give a rare adjective “of a country house”, in Ausonius.[3] Köbler records it in early medieval charters and laws.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a bailiff in town.[2][4]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato of the farm overseer.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero.[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bailiff, steward or overseer of a farm or estate.[2][3][1]
  2. A manager or overseer in imperial or public service.[2]
  3. A villager.[1]

Word family

  • vīlica
  • vīlicō

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 k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
Cite this entry

“Vilicus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/vilicus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·