vivid

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vividus (“animated, spirited”), from vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”), Ancient Greek βίος (bíos, “life”).

The noun sense (a type of marker pen) was genericized from a brand name.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɪvɪd/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

vivid (comparative vivider, superlative vividest)

1. (of perception) Clear, detailed or powerful.
2. (of an image) Bright, intense or colourful.
   • 1959 March, “The 2,500 h.p. electric locomotives for the Kent Coast electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 125:

     Whenever the locomotive was working hard there was unmistakable evidence of its higher power than its predecessors in the brilliant and explosive arcing between conductor shoes and the third rail; this was particularly vivid in Quarry Tunnel in the down direction, where the display equalled anything we have seen on the frostiest of nights in an electrified third-rail area.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     The half-dozen pieces […] were painted white and carved with festoons of flowers, birds and cupids. To display them the walls had been tinted a vivid blue which had now faded, but the carpet, which had evidently been stored and recently relaid, retained its original turquoise.

3. Full of life, strikingly alive.
   • 1907, Harold Bindloss, chapter 32, in The Dust of Conflict‎^[2]:

     The vivid, untrammeled life appealed to him, and for a time he had found delight in it; but he was wise and knew that once peace was established there would be no room in Cuba for the Sin Verguenza.

Derived terms

• vividly
• vividness

 

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷeyh₃-‎ (0 c, 24 e)

Translations

clear, detailed or powerful

• Catalan: vívid
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 生動 (zh), 生动 (zh) (shēngdòng), 鮮烈 (zh), 鲜烈 (zh) (xiānliè), 鮮明 (zh), 鲜明 (zh) (xiānmíng)

• Dutch: helder (nl), gedetailleerd (nl), krachtig (nl)
• Finnish: elävä (fi), eloisa (fi)
• French: vivide (fr)
• Georgian: ნათელი (nateli), ცოცხალი (cocxali), მგზნებარე (mgznebare), ძლიერი (ʒlieri)
• German: lebendig (de), lebhaft (de), anschaulich (de)
• Irish: glé, beoga, gléineach

• Italian: chiaro (it) m, limpido (it) m
• Japanese: 鮮烈 (せんれつ, senretsu), 鮮明 (ja) (せんめい, senmei), 鮮やか (ja) (あざやか, azayaka)
• Portuguese: vívido (pt)
• Russian: живо́й (ru) (živój), я́сный (ru) (jásnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: beò
• Spanish: vívido (es) m
• Turkish: berrak (tr), açık (tr), net (tr)
• Yiddish: בילדעריש‎ (bilderish)

bright, intense or colourful

• Belarusian: я́ркі (be) m (járki)
• Catalan: vívid
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鮮豔 (zh), 鲜艳 (zh) (xiānyàn), 鮮明 (zh), 鲜明 (zh) (xiānmíng)

• Czech: živý (cs) m
• Dutch: helder (nl), intens (nl), kleurrijk (nl)levendig (nl)
• Finnish: elävä (fi)
• Georgian: კაშკაშა (ḳašḳaša), ნათელი (nateli)
• Irish: gléineach, glé

• Japanese: 鮮明 (ja) (せんめい, senmei)
• Maori: muramura
• Portuguese: vívido (pt), vivo (pt)
• Russian: я́ркий (ru) (járkij)
• Scottish Gaelic: beò
• Spanish: vivo (es) m
• Swedish: färgglad (sv)
• Turkish: parlak (tr), cırlak (tr)
• Vietnamese: sống động
• Yiddish: בילדעריש‎ (bilderish)

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 Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} vioi (ro)

Noun

vivid (plural vivids)

1. (New Zealand) A felt-tipped permanent marker.

Further reading

• vivid in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• vivid in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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Spanish

Verb

vivid

1. (Spain) Informal second-person plural (vosotros or vosotras) affirmative imperative form of vivir.