vita Latin · revision 7322

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Ennius|origins=ine-pro *gʷeyh₃-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈwiː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈviː.ta]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''vīta''' ''f'' (genitive vītae); first declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from [[vīvō]] “to live”, from Proto-Italic *gʷītā, possibly from a derivative [[ine-pro|*gʷih₃wo-teh₂]], from [[ine-pro|*gʷeyh₃-|t=to live]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[grc|βίοτος|tr=bíotos|t=life]], [[sga|bethu|t=life]], [[cu|животъ|tr=životŭ|t=life]] and [[sa|जीवित|tr=jīvitá|t=life]].^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lucretius has the old genitive ⟨vītāī⟩.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Isidore says it is named from ⟨vigor⟩, or because it holds the power of being born and growing.^(Isidore)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus and Ennius.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first source is Plautus, whom he dates c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant the condition of being alive, life, its duration, and pregnantly a life worth the name, as in Cicero.^(OLD 2012) It meant embodied life, as in Virgil, life as something that can be given or taken, the animating principle, as in Ennius, and as a term of endearment ''mea vīta'' “my life”, as in Plautus.^(OLD 2012) From Ennius it meant the course of one's life, and in Nepos a written life, a biography.^(OLD 2012) It meant one's manner of life, ''vītam agere'' “to live”, the means of living, and human life, the world.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Döderlein explains that ''vīta'' is the duration of life, opposed to ''mors'', while ''salūs'' is its safety.^(Döderlein 1874)

+

+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant life, eternal life, the course of life, a livelihood, a biography.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin had ''dē vītā compōnere'' “to pay one's wergild instead of suffering death”.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in Italian ''vita'', French ''vie'' and Spanish ''vida'', and [[en|vita]] is a learned borrowing, “biography” by 1949.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of life and of one's course of life.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it as a term of endearment.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a life worth living.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 100–24 BC – Nepos uses it of a biography.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|Life]], being alive; a lifetime.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A life worthy of the name.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The animating principle, ''mea vīta'', my darling.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The course of a life; a [[m|en|biography]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A way of life; a livelihood.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Human life, the world.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Ecclesiastical Latin)'' Eternal life.^(Stelten 1995)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[vītālis]]

+ * [[vītālitās]]

+ * [[vītāliter]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vītābilis]]

+ * [[vītātiō]]

+ * [[vīvārium]]

+ * [[vīvāx]]

+ * [[vīvidus]]

+ * [[vīvō]]

+ * [[vīvus]]

+ * [[en|vita]]

+ * [[en|vital]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}