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vibrate [vibrate 词源字典]: vibrate: [17] Vibrate comes from Latin vibrāre ‘move quickly to and fro, shake’. This went back ultimately to a prehistoric Indo-European base *wib-, *weib- ‘move quickly to and fro’, which also produced English weave ‘move to and fro’ (as in ‘weave through the traffic’), whip, and wipe.
=> weave, whip, wipe[vibrate etymology, vibrate origin, 英语词源]
vicar: vicar: [13] A vicar is etymologically a ‘substitute’ for or ‘representative’ of someone else: thus the pope is the vicar of God on Earth, and the vicar of a parish was originally someone who stood in for the parson or rector. The word comes via Old French vicaire from Latin vicārius ‘substitute, deputy’. This was a noun use of the adjective vicārius ‘substituting’ (source of English vicarious [17], which more closely preserves the meaning of its Latin original). And vicārius in turn was derived from vicis ‘change, turn, office’, source also of English vicissitude [16] and the prefix vice-.
=> vicarious, vicissitude
vice: vice: Including the prefix vice-, English has three distinct words vice. The oldest, ‘wickedness’ [13], comes via Old French vice from Latin vitium ‘defect, offence’, which also gave English vicious [14], vitiate [16], and vituperate [16]. Vice ‘tool for holding’ [14] was acquired via Old French viz from Latin vītis.

This came to denote ‘vine’ (in which sense it gave English viticulture ‘vine-growing’ [19]), but originally it signified ‘tendril’, and it was this that lay behind the original meanings of English vice: ‘winding staircase’ and ‘screw’. Its modern application began to emerge in the 15th century, and derived from the notion of jaws being opened and closed by means of a ‘screw’.

The prefix vice- [15] comes from Latin vice ‘in place of’, the ablative case of vicis ‘change’ (source of English vicar, vicissitude, etc).
=> vicious, vitiate, vituperate; viticulture
vicinity: vicinity: [16] Latin vīcus meant ‘group of houses, village’ (it is related to the -wich or -wick of English place-names, which originally meant ‘hamlet, town’). From it was derived vīcīnus ‘neighbouring’, which in turn produced vīcīnitās ‘neighbourhood’, source of English vicinity.
vicissitude: vicissitude: see vicar
victim: victim: [15] Victim originally denoted a ‘person or animal killed as a sacrifice’; the more general notion of ‘someone who suffers from or is killed by something’ is a secondary development. The word was borrowed from Latin victima, which may be related to German weihen ‘consecrate’.
victory: victory: [14] Latin vincere meant ‘defeat’ (it has given English convince, evince, invincible, and vanquish). Its past participle was victus, from which English gets convict, evict, victor [14] (etymologically a ‘defeater, conqueror’), and victory.
=> convict, convince, evict, evince, invincible, vanquish
victuals: victuals: [14] Victuals are etymologically something you eat to stay ‘alive’. The word came from late Latin vīctūālia ‘provisions’, a noun use of the plural of vīctūālis ‘of nourishment’. This in turn was derived from vīctus ‘livelihood’, which was formed from the same base as vivere ‘live’ (source of English convivial, revive, survive, viper, vivacious, vivid, etc, as well as of a range of words descended from its derivative vīta ‘life’, such as vital and vitamin).

The pronunciation of the word, /vitəlz/, reflects the form in which it was originally acquired, via Old French vitaille, but its spelling represents a return to its Latin original.
=> convivial, revive, survive, viper, vivacious, vivid
video: video: see visit
vie: vie: [15] Vie is ultimately the same word as invite. It is a shortened version of the now defunct envie ‘make a challenge’, which came via Old French envier from Latin invītāre (source of English invite), a word of uncertain origin which meant ‘challenge’ as well as ‘invite’.
=> invite
view: view: [15] Etymologically, a view is simply something ‘seen’. The word was borrowed from Old French veue, a noun use of the feminine past participle of veoir ‘see’. This was descended from Latin vidēre ‘see’ (source of English vision, visit, etc).
=> vision
vigil: vigil: [13] Etymologically, to take part in a vigil, you have to be ‘alert’ and ‘awake’. The word comes via Old French vigile from Latin vigilia, which was derived from the adjective vigil ‘awake, alert’, so the notion underlying it is of staying awake to keep watch. Another derivative of the Latin adjective was vigilāre ‘keep watch’, which lies behind English reveille [17], surveillance [19], vigilant [15], and vigilante [19] (via Spanish). It came ultimately from the Indo-European base *wog-, *weg- ‘be lively or active’, which also produced English vigour, wake and watch.
=> reveille, surveillance, vigilante, vigour, wake, watch
vignette: vignette: [18] A vignette is etymologically a picture with a border of ‘vine’ tendrils, leaves, etc round it. The word comes from Old French vignette, a diminutive form of vigne ‘vine’ (source of English vine and related to English wine). It was originally applied to decorations in medieval manuscripts, but it was then transferred to the border around pictures, and finally to the pictures themselves. The conscious link with ‘vines’ now became broken, and in the 19th century the term moved on to a ‘head-andshoulders photograph’ and (metaphorically) a ‘short verbal description’.
=> vine, wine
vigour: vigour: [14] Latin vigēre meant ‘be lively, flourish’ (it came from the Indo-European base *wog-, *weg- ‘be lively or active’, which also produced English vigil, wake and watch). From it was derived the noun vigor ‘liveliness’, which passed into English via Old French vigour. From the same source come vigorous [14] and invigorate [17].
=> invigorate, vigil
viking: viking: [19] There are two competing theories as to the origin of the word viking. If its ancestry is genuinely Scandinavian (and Old Norse víkingr is first recorded in the 10th century), then it was presumably based on Old Norse vík ‘inlet’, and it would denote etymologically ‘person who lives by the fjords’ – a logical enough notion. However, earlier traces of the word have been found in Old English and Old Frisian, from around the 8th century, which suggests the alternative theory that it may have been coined from Old English wīc ‘camp’ (ancestor of the -wick, -wich of English place-names).

On this view, the term originated as a word used by the Anglo-Saxons for the Norse raiders, who made temporary camps while they attacked and plundered the local populace. It was introduced into modern English at the start of the 19th century as an antiquarian’s or historian’s term.
vile: vile: [13] The ancestral meaning of vile is ‘of low status, quality, or price, cheap, common’; its use as a general epithet of ‘horribleness’ is a secondary development. It comes via Old French vil from Latin vīlis, a word of uncertain origin. The same source has given English revile [14] and vilify [15].
=> revile, vilify
villa: villa: [17] Latin vīlla denoted a ‘country house’. It was a condensation of an earlier *wīcslā, which in turn was derived from *wīcus ‘group of houses, camp, village, etc’ (source of the -wick, -wich of English place-names). And *wīcus was descended from Indo-European *weik-, *wik-, *woik-, which also produced Greek oíkos ‘house’ (source of English economy).

To the same family belong village [14], a derivative of Old French ville in its extended sense ‘town’, and villain [14], which came via Old French vilain from Vulgar Latin *vīllānus, literally ‘dweller in a villa’, and originally denoted ‘feudal serf’ (now usually spelled villein, to distinguish it from the metaphorical ‘scoundrel, criminal’).
=> economy, village, villain
vindicate: vindicate: [16] Latin vindex meant ‘claimant, defender, avenger’. From it was derived vindicāre ‘claim, defend, revenge’, which gave English vindicate, as well as (via French) avenge [14], revenge [14], and vengeance [13]. Vindicāre in turn formed the basis of vindicta ‘vengeance’, from which English gets vindictive [17] and (via Italian) vendetta [19].
=> avenge, revenge, vendetta, vengeance, vindictive
vine: vine: see wine
vinegar: vinegar: [13] Etymologically, vinegar is ‘sour wine’. The term was borrowed from Old French vyn egre, whose elements went back respectively to Latin vīnum ‘wine’ (source of English wine) and acer ‘sharp, pungent’ (source of English eager). In modern French, vyn egre became vinaigre, and its diminutive form has given English vinaigrette [17]. This originally denoted a sort of small French carriage, which supposedly resembled a vinegar-seller’s cart; the modern application to an ‘oil-and-vinegar dressing’ is not recorded in English until the end of the 19th century.
=> acid, acrid, eager, wine