vicus

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vīcus (“village”). Doublet of wick.

Noun

vicus (plural vici)

1. (historical) A small civilian settlement outside a Roman fort.
   • 2011, Brenda Longfellow, Roman Imperialism and Civic Patronage:

     The compital shrines stood at primary crossroads in the vici and received sacrifices during the annual Compitalia Festival.

Latin

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Italic *weikos, from Proto-Indo-European *weyḱ- (“village”). Cognate of Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”), Sanskrit विश् (víś, “settlement, dwelling-space”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍃 (weihs, “village, place”), Etruscan 𐌅𐌉𐌊𐌖 (viku).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯iː.kus/, [ˈu̯iːkʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.kus/, [ˈviːkus]

Noun

vīcus m (genitive vīcī); second declension

1. street; quarter, neighbourhood; row of houses
2. village; hamlet
3. municipal section or ward, farm

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vīcus	vīcī
Genitive	vīcī	vīcōrum
Dative	vīcō	vīcīs
Accusative	vīcum	vīcōs
Ablative	vīcō	vīcīs
Vocative	vīce	vīcī

Derived terms

• Brūnōnis vīcus
• vīcīna
• vīcīnālis
• vīcīnē
• vīcīnia
• vīcīnitās
• vīcīnor
• vīcīnum
• vīcīnus
• vīculus
• vīcus canonicus
• vīcus pūblicus
• Vīcus Longus
• vīlla

 

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: vico, vicolo
  • Neapolitan: vico, viculo
• Padanian:
  • Lombard: vic (Alpine)
  • Romansch: vitg
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: Vic
  • Old Occitan: bic (“hamlet, seat of jurisdiction”) (Gascon)
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Galician: Vigo
• Ancient borrowings:
  • → Old Irish: fich
  • → Proto-Brythonic: [Term?]
    • Breton: gwig
    • Cornish: gwig
    • Welsh: gwig
  • → Proto-Germanic: *wīkō (see there for further descendants)
• Later borrowings:
  • → English: vicus
  • → Interlingua: vico

References

• Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976) “vicus”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, pages 1,097–1,100
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “vīcus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 14: U–Z, page 420

Further reading

• “uīcus” on page 2,058 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)
• “vīcus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vicus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vicus 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)
• vīcus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette: “1,673/3”
• “vicus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “vicus”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin