Etymologically
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vitalis

Etymology and origin of the Latin word vitalis

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (vīvō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [wiːˈtaː.lɪs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [viˈtaː.lis][1]

Forms

vītālis (neuter vītāle); third-declension two-termination adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from vīta “life” with the suffix -ālis.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of what belongs to life and of the living.[2] Köbler's first source is Ennius; he dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant of life, animal or vegetable, as Cicero's vīs vītālis “vital power” of heat, and of what concerns life or death.[2][3][5] From Cicero it meant life-giving, and in Seneca indispensable to life, vital, and vītālia the vital parts.[2] From Plautus it meant living, alive, likely to survive.[2] Euphemistically lectus vītālis was a bier, and vītālia grave clothes, as in Petronius.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant vital, of life, living.[6] Medieval Latin used it for alive, and the neuter vītāle of a livelihood held in usufruct.[7] English vital came in the late 14th century, in physiology and philosophy, through Old French and directly from Latin.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of life and of the living.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses vīs vītālis.[3][5][4]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses vītālia of vital organs.[2][4]
  • late 14th century – English vital is recorded.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of life; concerning life or death.[2]
  2. Life-giving.[2]
  3. Vital, indispensable to life, vītālia, the vital parts.[2]
  4. Living, alive.[2]
  5. lectus vītālis, a bier, vītālia, grave clothes.[2]

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

“Vitalis.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/vitalis. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·