vestigium

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vestigium

Noun

vestigium (plural vestigia)

1. A vestige.

---

Latin

Etymology

Of unknown origin. Maybe from earlier *verstīgium, from verrō (“to sweep”). Or, possibly from vē- +‎ *stīgō, from Proto-Indo-European *steygʰ- (“to walk”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯esˈtiː.ɡi.um/, [u̯ɛs̠ˈt̪iːɡiʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /vesˈti.d͡ʒi.um/, [vesˈt̪iːd͡ʒium]

Noun

vestīgium n (genitive vestīgiī or vestīgī); second declension

1. footprint, track
2. trace, vestige, mark
3. sole of the foot
4. horseshoe
5. (figuratively, of time) moment, instant

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vestīgium	vestīgia
Genitive	vestīgiī vestīgī1	vestīgiōrum
Dative	vestīgiō	vestīgiīs
Accusative	vestīgium	vestīgia
Ablative	vestīgiō	vestīgiīs
Vocative	vestīgium	vestīgia

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Related terms

• vestīgātiō
• vestīgātor
• vestīgō

Descendants

• Catalan: vestigi
• English: vestige
• French: vestige
• Romanian: vestigiu
• Spanish: vestigio
• Italian: vestigio

Further reading

• “vestigium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vestigium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vestigium 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)
• vestigium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to follow in any one's steps: vestigia alicuius sequi, persequi or vestigiis aliquem sequi, persequi
    
  • to follow in any one's steps: vestigiis alicuius insistere, ingredi (also metaph.)
    
  • not to stir from one's place: loco or vestigio se non movere