vio

Forms

viō (present infinitive viāre, perfect active viāvī, supine viātum); first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin via (“road, way”), a verb formed on the noun.^[1][2][3] De Vaan traces the noun to Proto-Italic *wijā- (“road”) and, more tentatively, to Proto-Indo-European *uih₁-eh₂- (“pursuit”), from the root *ueih₁- (“to strive after, try to get”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Quintilian, writing c. 35–95/96 AD,^[5] already mentions vio, judging it less happily formed (“infelicius fictum”).^[3] Lewis & Short describe the verb as post-Augustan and very rare,^[3] meaning to travel or be on the road.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The verb stayed rare and mostly literary: Apuleius has vians maritus, a husband travelling about,^[3][2] and Solinus uses the participle viantes for travellers.^[2] Ammianus Marcellinus writes of envoys intent on travelling (intenti ad viandum).^[3][6][7]

In Christian Latin it appears in the Vulgate^[3][7] and in Prudentius,^[3] and Stelten glosses it as to go, travel or wander.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian mentions vio and judges it less happily formed.^[3][5]
• c. 120 AD – Florus uses it.^[3][5]
• c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius writes vians maritus, a husband on his travels.^[3][2][5]
• first half of the 3rd century AD – Solinus uses viantes for travellers.^[2][5]
• c. 390 AD – Ammianus Marcellinus uses it of envoys on a journey.^[3][6][5]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the First Book of Kings.^[3][7][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To travel, journey, be on the road.^[3][2][6][7]
2. (present participle as a noun, plural) viantēs: travellers.^[2][6]
3. (Ecclesiastical Latin) To go about, wander.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ 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 c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson