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visio

Etymology and origin of the Latin word visio

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Cicero
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*weyd-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈwiː.si.oː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviː.s̬i.o][1]

Forms

vīsiō f (genitive vīsiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from videō “to see” with the suffix -tiō, built on the participle stem ⟨vīs-⟩.[2][1][3] Videō goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyd- (“to see”).[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Cicero, who speaks of the way we see God.[4][5] Köbler dates Cicero 81–43 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant the act or faculty of seeing, sight, vision, as in Apuleius, and that which is seen, an appearance real or illusory, a visual image or notion, rendering Greek phantasía, as in Cicero and Gellius.[2][5][6] In law, perhaps only in interpolated passages, it was a case put forward for study.[2]

In Christian Latin it meant an apparition, a vision, and vīsiō Deī or vīsiō beātifica was the sight of God in heaven.[7][8] In Medieval Latin it also meant a visit, an inspection, a view to establish legal facts, and an interview.[9][8] It survives in French vision and Italian visione.[1] English vision came through Anglo-French about 1300, first of something seen in a dream or the supernatural.[3]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of seeing God.[5][4]
  • c. 125–175 AD – Apuleius uses it of the faculty of sight.[2][4]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it of mental images.[2][4]
  • c. 1300 – English vision is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Sight, the act or faculty of seeing.[2]
  2. An appearance; a mental image, notion.[2]
  3. (Christian Latin) A vision, apparition; the sight of God.[7][8]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An inspection, view.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  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
  9. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Visio.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/visio. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·