vetus

See also: vêtus

Etruscan

Romanization

vetus

1. Romanization of 𐌅𐌄𐌕𐌖𐌔

Latin

Alternative forms

• vet. (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *wetos (“year”), from Proto-Indo-European *wétos (“year”). The Latin underwent semantic shift "year" > "having accumulated (many) years" > "aged, old", with the Latin term for year being annus, from a different root.

Cognates include Sanskrit वत्स (vatsá, “year; calf”), Ancient Greek ἔτος (étos), Albanian vjet, Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌸𐍂𐌿𐍃 (wiþrus, “one-year-old lamb”), Old Church Slavonic ветъхъ (vetŭxŭ, “old, aged, ancient”), Russian ве́тхий (vétxij, “old, aged”), Lithuanian vẽtušas and Proto-Celtic *wetsi- (Middle Irish feis, Cornish guis, both “sow that has already given birth” < “from last year”), Etruscan 𐌅𐌄𐌕𐌖𐌔 (vetus).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯e.tus/, [ˈu̯ɛt̪ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈve.tus/, [ˈvɛːt̪us]

Adjective

vetus (genitive veteris, comparative vetustior or veterior, superlative vetustissimus or veterrimus); third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem)

1. old, aged, elderly, ancient

   Synonyms: prīscus, prīstinus, senex, antīquus, longinquus, vetustus

   Antonyms: novus, recēns

2. long-standing
3. former, previous
   • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita 26.1:

     Ea tum cura maxime intentos habebat Romanos, non ab ira tantum, quae in nullam unquam civitatem iustior fuit, quam quod urbs tam nobilis ac potens, sicut defectione sua traxerat aliquot populos, ita recepta inclinatura rursus animos videbatur ad veteris imperii respectum.

     This concern in particular troubled the mindful Romans at the time, not so much because of anger, which has never been more justified against any other city, rather because a city so noble and powerful, in the same way that it had attracted the support of a number of communities by its revolt, was thought would again turn attention back towards respect for the previous government once recaptured.

Declension

Third-declension one-termination adjective (non-i-stem).

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	vetus			veterēs	vetera
genitive	veteris			veterum
dative	veterī			veteribus
accusative	veterem	vetus		veterēs	vetera
ablative	vetere			veteribus
vocative	vetus			veterēs	vetera

Derived terms

• vetera
• veterāmentārius
• veterānus
• veterārius
• veterēs
• veterēscō
• veternus
• veterō
• vetulus
• Vetus Latīna
• Vetus Testāmentum
• vetusculus
• vetustus

 

Related terms

• vetula

Descendants

• Balkan Romance:
  • Romanian: biet
• Italo-Romance:
  • Italian: vieto
• Padanian:
  • Friulian: vieri
  • Old Lombard: uedre
    • Lombard: eder, veger
  • Romansch: veider, vedar
  • Venetan: vegro, viegro
• Gallo-Romance:
  • Franco-Provençal: viero
  • Lorrain: vyös
  • Occitan: vèire, vèira
  • Old French: viez
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: vedro
    • Galician: vedro ⇒ Galician: Pontevedra
  • Old Spanish: viedro

Further reading

• “vetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “vetus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• vetus 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)
• vetus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to study historical records, read history: evolvere historias, litterarum (veterum annalium) monumenta
    
  • ancient history: rerum veterum memoria
    
  • ancient history: memoria vetus (Or. 34. 120)
    
  • ancient history: veterum annales
    
  • ancient history: veterum annalium monumenta
    
  • it was said long ago that..: vetus (verbum) est (c. Acc. c. Inf.)
    
  • we have known each other well for several years: vetus usus inter nos intercedit
    
  • veterans; experienced troops: vetus miles, veteranus miles
    
  • (ambiguous) an old proverb tells us not to..: vetamur vetere proverbio
    
  • (ambiguous) to give up old customs: a vetere consuetudine discedere
    
• “vetus”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “vetus”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “vĕtus”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 709
• Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Latin and the development of the Romance languages: The postclassical period, Vulgar Latin, 2007.[2]