vitalitas

Forms

vītālitās f (genitive vītālitātis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin vītālis (“of life, vital”) + -tās.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pliny the Elder uses it in the Natural History for the vital force, which he says lasts in the heart.^[4][3][5]

Semantic evolution

The OLD defines it as the principle or essence of life.^[2] Pliny also says that the knees have vitalitas in them.^[3] Du Cange records it in later philosophical language as life considered in the abstract, citing a text of Victorinus edited by Mabillon.^[6] Conte gives it as the source of Italian vitalità,^[5] and English vitality (1590s) comes from it.^[7]

Timeline

• 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it for the vital force in the heart and the knees.^[4][3][8]
• 1590s – English borrows it as vitality.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. The principle of life; vital force.^[2][4][9]
2. (Medieval Latin) Life considered in the abstract.^[6]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
4. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
9. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.