vade mecum

WOTD – 16 January 2006    

English

Alternative forms

• vade-mecum
• Vade Mecum
• vademecum

Etymology

From the Latin vāde (“go!, walk!”), the second-person singular present active imperative of vādō (“I go, I walk”) + mēcum (“with me”), literally meaning "go with me!".

Noun

vade mecum (plural vade mecums)

1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.
2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.

Translations

referential book

• Finnish: käsikirja (fi)
• French: vade-mecum (fr)
• German: Vademecum (de) n

• Icelandic: handbók (is) f, vasakver (is) n, uppsláttarkver (is) n
• Spanish: vademécum (es) m, manual (es) m

useful object

• Icelandic: handargagn (is) n, handhægur hlutur (is) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: vade-mecum m
• Portuguese: vademécum m