vimen

English

Etymology

Latin vimen

Noun

vimen (plural vimina)

1. A long flexible shoot or branch of a plant.

Related terms

• viminal
• vimineous

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *weimən, from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁imn̥. By surface analysis, vieō (“plait, weave”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix). Cognates include German Weide, Dutch wilg, Swedish vide, Persian بید, Ancient Greek ἰτέα (itéa), all meaning 'willow', as well as English willow, Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch”), Russian вить (vitʹ, “to twist, plaid”), Sanskrit वेतस (vetasa, “reed, cane, rod”), Sanskrit व्ययति (vyayati, “to wrap, clothe”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯iː.men/, [ˈu̯iːmɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvi.men/, [ˈviːmen]

Noun

vīmen n (genitive vīminis); third declension

1. twig, shoot
   • 70 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, The Aeneid 3.31-33.
     Rursus et alterius lentum convellere vimen
     insequor, et causas penitus temptare latentis:
     ater et alterius sequitur de cortice sanguis.
     :

     Turned aback (in ug) I pulled another pliant shoot out
     to appraise the cause of such skulking horror
     and in its bark yet again was blood.

2. osier
3. branch for wickerwork

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vīmen	vīmina
Genitive	vīminis	vīminum
Dative	vīminī	vīminibus
Accusative	vīmen	vīmina
Ablative	vīmine	vīminibus
Vocative	vīmen	vīmina

Derived terms

• vīminālis
• vīminārius
• vīminētum
• vīmineus

Descendants

• Catalan: vim, vime, ⇒ vímet
• English: vimen
• Galician: vime, vimbio
• Italian: vimine
• Portuguese: vime
• Spanish: vimbre, bimbre, mimbre

References

• “vimen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vimen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vimen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.