vitalis Latin · revision 7323

16 Oct 2026, 13:51 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)”
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Plautus|origins=la vīvō}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [wiːˈtaː.lɪs]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [viˈtaː.lis]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''vītālis''' (neuter vītāle); third-declension two-termination adjective^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is from [[vīta]] “life” with the suffix [[-ālis]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of what belongs to life and of the living.^(OLD 2012) Köbler's first source is Ennius; he dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==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.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016) From Cicero it meant life-giving, and in Seneca indispensable to life, vital, and ''vītālia'' the vital parts.^(OLD 2012) From Plautus it meant living, alive, likely to survive.^(OLD 2012) Euphemistically ''lectus vītālis'' was a bier, and ''vītālia'' grave clothes, as in Petronius.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant vital, of life, living.^(Stelten 1995) Medieval Latin used it for alive, and the neuter ''vītāle'' of a livelihood held in usufruct.^(Niermeyer 1976) [[en|vital]] came in the late 14th century, in physiology and philosophy, through Old French and directly from Latin.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of life and of the living.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses ''vīs vītālis''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses ''vītālia'' of vital organs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * late 14th century – English ''vital'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Of life; concerning life or death.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Life-giving.^(OLD 2012)
+ # [[m|en|Vital]], indispensable to life, ''vītālia'', the vital parts.^(OLD 2012)
+ # Living, alive.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''lectus vītālis'', a bier, ''vītālia'', grave clothes.^(OLD 2012)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[vīta]]
+ * [[vīvō]]
+ * [[en|vital]]
+ * [[en|vitality]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}