vestibulum

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin vestibulum (“a forecourt, entrance court; an entrance”). Doublet of vestibule.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vɛˈstɪb.jəl.əm/
• Rhymes: -ɪbjʊləm

Noun

vestibulum (plural vestibula)

1. (zootomy) A cavity into which, in certain bryozoans, the esophagus and anus open.
2. (anatomy) The vestibule of the ear.

Derived terms

• vestibular
• vestibulo-

References

• “vestibulum”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Latin

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibilities include:

• From vestiō (“to dress, clothe, vest”) +‎ -bulum (“place, location”, nominal suffix).
• From unattested *vestis ("a feeding") or *vestus ("fed"), from the Proto-Indo-European root *wes- (“to graze”).
• For *verostabulum, from unattested *verus or *verum ("door") (cf. aperiō) and stabulum.
• From verrō (“I sweep”)
• From unattested *vestis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéstis, which is equivalent to Old English wist (“being,existence”)
• From vestis +‎ stabulum
• From vē- +‎ stabulum

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /u̯esˈti.bu.lum/, [u̯ɛs̠ˈt̪ɪbʊɫ̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /vesˈti.bu.lum/, [vesˈt̪iːbulum]

Noun

vestibulum n (genitive vestibulī); second declension

1. (literally) enclosed space between the entrance of a house and the street, forecourt, entrance court

   Coordinate term: ātrium

   1. (transferred sense) entrance (to anything)

   Synonyms: iānua, ingressus, līmen, initium, porta, ingressiō, foris

   Antonym: abitus

2. (figurative) beginning

   Synonyms: initium, prīmōrdium, prīncipium, līmen, orīgō, exordium

   Antonym: fīnis

   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita I.45:

     in vestibulo templi Dianae

     In the vestibule of Diana's temple

Inflection

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vestibulum	vestibula
Genitive	vestibulī	vestibulōrum
Dative	vestibulō	vestibulīs
Accusative	vestibulum	vestibula
Ablative	vestibulō	vestibulīs
Vocative	vestibulum	vestibula

Descendants

Descendants of vestibulum in other languages

• → Catalan: vestíbul
• → English: vestibulum
• → French: vestibule
  • → English: vestibule
  • → German: Vestibül
  • → Romanian: vestibul
  • → Russian: вестибюль (vestibjulʹ)
• → Galician: vestíbulo
• → Italian: vestibolo
• → Piedmontese: vestìbul
• → Polish: westybul
• → Portuguese: vestíbulo
• → Russian: вестибюль (vestibjulʹ)
• → Slovak: vestibul
• → Spanish: vestíbulo

References

• “vestibulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vestibulum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vestibulum 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)
• vestibulum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “vestibulum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “vestibulum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin