vix

Latin

Etymology

    From Proto-Italic *wiks sg (nom.), *wiksu pl (a turn, bend, loc.), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-.[1]

    Pronunciation

    Adverb

    vix (not comparable)

    1. with difficulty, with effort; scarcely, hardly, barely
      Vix crēdendum est...It is hard to believe...
      • 63 BCE, Cicero, Catiline Orations Oratio in Catilinam Prima in Senatu Habita.23:
        [] vix feram sermōnēs hominum, sī id fēcerīs, vix mōlem istīus invidiae, sī in exsilium iussū cōnsulis ierīs, sustinēbō.
        [] I shall scarcely endure the talk of men, if you do that, and I shall hardly withstand the burden of that unpopularity if you go into exile by the consul’s command.
      • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 7.13:
        [] ; quamquam de gloria vix dicere ausim, si nos et hostes haud secus quam feminas abditos intra vallum omnibus contumeliis eludunt, et []
        [] ; though I had as lief not to speak of glory, when the enemy jeers us with much abuse as if women concealing behind walls, and []
    2. (temporal) hardly, merely, just, scarcely
      vix... cum...
      • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico VI.8:
        Vix agmen novissimum extra munitiones processerat, cum Galli cohortati inter se, [] flumen transire et iniquo loco committere proelium non dubitant.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Old Navarro-Aragonese: veiza (Glosas Emilianenses)
    • Neapolitan: vi (Abruzzese)
    • Romansh: ves
    • Aromanian: ayia
    • Romanian: abia
    • Old Leonese: abés
      • Asturian: avés (obsolete)
    • Spanish: abés (archaic)

    References

    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “vix”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 686

    Further reading

    • vix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • vix”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.