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): [ˈwiː.kʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈviː.kus]

Noun

vīcus m (genitive vīcī); second declension

1. row of houses; street; quarter; neighbourhood
   • 21 BCE, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, Epistularum liber primus (First Book of Letters): 15:

     ...sānē murtēta relinquī dictaque cessantem nervīs ēlīdere morbum sulfura contemnī vīcus gemit, invidus aegrīs, quī caput et stomachum suppōnere fontibus audent Clūsīnīs Gabiōsque petunt et frīgida rūra.

     Of course the town murmurs at its myrtle-groves being deserted, and its sulphur baths despised, so famous for driving a lingering disorder from the sinews, and takes offence at invalids who dare to plunge head and stomach under the showers from Clusium's springs, or who repair to Gabii and its cold country-side.

2. village; hamlet
   • c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.5:

     Ubi iam sē ad eam rem parātōs esse arbitrātī sunt, oppida sua omnia, numerō ad duodecim, vīcōs, ad quadringentōs, reliqua prīvāta aedificia incendunt; […] .

     When they considered themselves prepared enough for that undertaking, they burned all their towns, about twelve in number, their villages, about four hundred, and all the remaining private buildings; […] .

3. municipal section or ward; farm

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	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 Longus
• vīcus pūblicus
• vīlla

Descendants

• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: vico
  • Neapolitan: vico
• Rhaeto-Romance:
  • Romansh: vitg
• Gallo-Italic:
  • Lombard: vic (Alpine)
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Catalan: Vic (toponym)
  • Old Occitan: bic (“hamlet, seat of jurisdiction”) (Gascon)
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Galician: Vigo (toponym)
• Borrowings:
  • Ancient:
    • → Old Irish: fich
    • → Proto-Brythonic:
      • Breton: gwig
      • Cornish: gwig
      • Welsh: gwig
    • → Proto-West Germanic: *wīk (see there for further descendants)
  • Later:
    • → 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 (in German), volume 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, 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