vitulus

Latin

Alternative forms

• viclus (Late Latin, proscribed)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *wetelos, from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”), same source as Ancient Greek ἔταλον (étalon), Albanian viç, Albanian vit, English wether, Scots weddir, woddir, wadder (“wether”), Dutch weder, weer (“wether”), German Widder (“wether, ram”), Swedish vädur (“wether, ram”), Icelandic veður (“wether, ram”). See also Ancient Greek Ῑ̓ταλός (Ītalós).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈwɪ.tʊ.ɫʊs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈviː.tu.lus]

Noun

vitulus m (genitive vitulī); second declension

1. a bull calf

   Synonym: bovulus (Medieval Latin)

2. ellipsis of vitulus marīnus (“seal”)

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	vitulus	vitulī
genitive	vitulī	vitulōrum
dative	vitulō	vitulīs
accusative	vitulum	vitulōs
ablative	vitulō	vitulīs
vocative	vitule	vitulī

Derived terms

• vitellus
• vitulus marīnus (“sea calf, seal”)

Related terms

• vitula

Descendants

• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *vitlus, *viclus
  • Italian: vecchio
• ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *vituleus
  • Aromanian: vitulj, vituljiu
  • Romanian: vătui
• Borrowings:
  • → Portuguese: vítulo
  • → Sicilian: Vìtulu (surname)
    • → Italian: Vitolo (surname)
  • → Spanish: vítulo

References

• “vitulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vitulus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "vitulus", 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)
• “vitulus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “vitulus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray