vital | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

44 entries found.

late 14c., "of or manifesting life," from Latin vitalis "of or belonging to life," from vita "life," related to vivere "to live," from PIE root *gwei- "to live." The sense of "necessary or important" is from 1610s, via the notion of "essential to life" (late 15c.). Vital capacity recorded from 1852. Related: Vitally.

vitalize (v.)

1670s, "to give life to," from vital + -ize. Figurative sense by 1805. Related: Vitalized; vitalizing.

vitality (n.)

1590s, from Latin vitalitatem (nominative vitalitas) "vital force, life," from vitalis "pertaining to life" (see vital).

vitals (n.)

"organs of the body essential to life," c. 1600, from noun use of adjective vital, perhaps on model of Latin vitalia "vital force," neuter plural of vitalis.

vivacity (n.)

early 15c., "liveliness, vigor," from Old French vivacite or directly from Latin vivacitatem (nominative vivacitas) "vital force, liveliness," from vivax (genitive vivacis) "lively," also "long-lived," from vivere "to live" (see vital).

eon (n.)

1640s, from Late Latin aeon, from Greek aiōn "age, vital force; a period of existence, a lifetime, a generation; a long space of time," in plural, "eternity," from PIE root *aiw- "vital force, life, long life, eternity." Related: Eonian; eonic.

sapless (adj.)

1590s, of plants, "dry, withered," also of persons or characters, "destitute of vital force," from sap (n.1) + -less. Often used rhetorically of male old age.

parasitism (n.)

"a habitual living on or at the expense of another," 1610s, from parasite + -ism. Biological sense of "vital relation of a parasite to a host" is by 1840.

demography (n.)

"that branch of anthropology which studies life-conditions of a people by its vital and social statistics," 1880, from Greek dēmos "people" (see demotic) + -graphy.

anima (n.)

Jung's term for the inner part of the personality, or the female component of a masculine personality, 1923, from fem. of Latin animus "the rational soul; life; the mental powers, intelligence" (see animus). For earlier use in the sense "soul, vital principle," see anima mundi.

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