Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
vetus. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
vetus, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
vetus in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
vetus you have here. The definition of the word
vetus will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
vetus, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Etruscan
Romanization
vetus
- Romanization of 𐌅𐌄𐌕𐌖𐌔
Latin
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *wetos (“year”) (The Latin term for year is annus.), from Proto-Indo-European *wétos (“year”).
Cognates include Sanskrit वत्स (vatsá, “year; calf”), Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos), Albanian vjet, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍃 (wiþrus, “one-year-old lamb”), Old Church Slavonic ветъхъ (vetŭxŭ, “old, aged, ancient”), Russian ве́тхий (vétxij, “old, aged”), Lithuanian vẽtušas and Proto-Celtic *wetsi- (Middle Irish feis, Cornish guis, both “sow that has already given birth” < “from last year”), Etruscan 𐌅𐌄𐌕𐌖𐌔 (vetus).
Pronunciation
Adjective
vetus (genitive veteris, comparative vetustior or veterior, superlative vetustissimus or veterrimus); third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)
- old, aged, elderly, ancient
- Synonyms: prīscus, prīstinus, senex, antīquus, longinquus, vetustus
- Antonyms: novus, recēns
- long-standing
- former, previous
27 BCE – 25 BCE,
Titus Livius,
Ab Urbe Condita 26.1:
- Ea tum cura maxime intentos habebat Romanos, non ab ira tantum, quae in nullam unquam civitatem iustior fuit, quam quod urbs tam nobilis ac potens, sicut defectione sua traxerat aliquot populos, ita recepta inclinatura rursus animos videbatur ad veteris imperii respectum.
- This concern in particular troubled the mindful Romans at the time, not so much because of anger, which has never been more justified against any other city, rather because a city so noble and powerful, in the same way that it had attracted the support of a number of communities by its revolt, was thought would again turn attention back towards respect for the previous government once recaptured.
Declension
Third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem).
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Balkan Romance:
- Italo-Romance:
- Padanian:
- Gallo-Romance:
- Ibero-Romance:
References
- “vetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “vetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- vetus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- vetus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to study historical records, read history: evolvere historias, litterarum (veterum annalium) monumenta
- ancient history: rerum veterum memoria
- ancient history: memoria vetus (Or. 34. 120)
- ancient history: veterum annales
- ancient history: veterum annalium monumenta
- it was said long ago that..: vetus (verbum) est (c. Acc. c. Inf.)
- we have known each other well for several years: vetus usus inter nos intercedit
- veterans; experienced troops: vetus miles, veteranus miles
- (ambiguous) an old proverb tells us not to..: vetamur vetere proverbio
- (ambiguous) to give up old customs: a vetere consuetudine discedere
- “vetus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “vetus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
- Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “vĕtus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 709
- Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Latin and the development of the Romance languages: The postclassical period, Vulgar Latin, 2007.