LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

vadum

vadum n (genitive vadī)
Classical[ˈwa.dũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈvaː.dum]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. neuterA shallow, ford, shoal
    […] alterum per prōvinciam nostram, multō facilius atque expedītius, proptereā quod inter fīnēs Helvētiōrum et Allobrogum, quī nūper pācātī erant, Rhodanus fluit, isque nōn nūllīs locīs vadō trānsītur.The other [route] was through our province, much easier and more unobstructed, because between the territories of the Helvetii and the Allobroges, who had been recently subdued, the Rhone flows, and that [river] is crossed by a ford in not a few places.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 1.6
  2. neuterA body of water; sea, stream
  3. neuterThe bottom of a body of water
  4. figurativelyneutera “shallow” as a metaphor for circumstances implying either safety or danger, similar to a boat in shallow water
    DĀVUS: Omnis rēs est iam in vadō.DAVUS: The whole affair is now in shallow water. (In context, the idiom conveys both safety and danger — the play has reached a high point of comic tension — yet Davus is confident that things will resolve favorably.)166 BCE, Publius Terentius Afer, Andria 845

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

aqua nōn alta, quā pedibus trānsīre possumus.
vadum -ī n — in Mille Verba, Mare et Nāvēs
mare humile, fundus appārēns
vadum -ī (n) — in Epistulae, ch. 15
pars flūminis nōn alta, quā trānsīrī potest
vadum -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 18

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Solum · Fundus · Vadum · Fundamentum

Solum, fundus, vadum, denote the natural ground and bottom of a thing; solum, that of the earth, on which one can place a firm foot, in opp. to the movable elements air and water; fundus (from fodere, βυθός,) that of a vessel, in opp. to the remaining space in the vessel; vadum (ἕδος) that of a river, ocean, or sea, in opp. to the water, which flows into it, or to standing water; whereas fundamentum denotes a foundation artificially laid, on which a building, etc. rests, and which, in addition to the solum, it particularly needs. Hence the proverbial phrase, Omnis res jam in vado est; like a swimmer who has reached the bottom of the water: and Largitio fundum non habet, like the vessel of the Danaides. Cic. Brut. 74. Solum et quasi fundamentum oratoris vides. (v. 35.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevadumvada
vadora
genitivevadīvadōrum
dativevadōvadīs
accusativevadumvada
vadora
ablativevadōvadīs
vocativevadumvada

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

flumen vado transire
to wade across, to ford a river.

vădum, i, n. (
I. masc. collat form, vă-dus, i, Varr. ap. Serv. Verg. A. 1, 111; Sall. H. 1, 68 Dietsch) [cf. the root BA, βαίνω, whence, also, vado; hence, that through which one can go], a shallow place in water, a shallow, shoal, ford.
I. Lit.
1. Sing.: Rhodanus nonnullis locis vado transitur, Caes. B. G. 1, 6; 5, 58; 7, 55: vadum in flumine efficere, id. B. C. 1, 61: vadum fluminis temptare, si transire possent, id. ib. 1, 83: exercitum vado transducere, id. ib. 3, 37: vado flumen penetrare, Tac. A. 2, 68: vado superari amnis non poterat, Liv. 38, 13, 9; 38, 18, 7: piscis qui vivit in vado, Cels. 2, 18: amnis incerto vado, Tac. A. 12, 33.—
2. Piur., so esp. of a shallow place where a river is crossed, a ford: ibi vadis repertis partem suarum copiarum transducere conati sunt, Caes. B. G. 2, 9; 1, 8; 3, 13; Liv. 26, 45, 8; 31, 1, 5; Tac. A. 2, 23; id. H. 4, 27; Lucr. 1, 200; Ov. M. 1, 370; 3, 19.—Also of shallows, as dangerous in navigation: mystica ad dextram vada Praetervecti, Att. ap. Varr. L. L. 7, 19 Müll. (Trag. Rel. v. 687 Rib.): brevia, Verg. A. 5, 221: caeca, id. ib. 1, 536: dura saxis Lilybeia caecis, id. ib. 3, 706; cf.: Nessus, scitus vadorum, Ov. M. 9, 108.—
B. Transf.
1. A body of water, a sea, stream, etc. (poet.): longā sulcant vada salsa carinā, Verg. A. 5, 158; 7, 198; Cat. 64, 58: si tamen Non tangenda rates transiliunt vada, Hor. C. 1, 3, 24; Ov. P. 4, 9, 2; Sen. Hippol. 181 al.—
2. The bottom of a body of water, the depths (poet. and in post-Aug. prose): saxa Vadis levata, Hor. Epod. 16, 26; Plin. 3, praef. § 4: ostrea capta solido vado, id. 32, 6, 21, § 59: sedit limoso pressa carina vado, Ov. F. 4, 300.—
3. The bottom of a well, Phaedr. 4, 9, 12; Plin. 31, 3, 23, § 39.—
II. Trop.
A. Of shallow water, as a place of safety to the swimmer: haec propemodum jam esse in vado salutis res videtur, i. e. in safety, Plaut. Aul. 4, 10, 73: at in vado'st: jam facile enabit, id. Rud. 1, 2, 81: omnis res est jam in vado, Ter. And. 5, 2, 4.—
B. Of shallows, as dangerous to the mariner: emersisse jam e vadis et scopulos praetervecta videtur oratio mea, Cic. Cael. 21, 51: cera vadum tentet, rasis infusa tabellis, explore the way, i. e. make a first attempt, Ov. A. A. 1, 437.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weh₂dʰ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wh₂dʰóm
  3. Proto-Italic*waðom
  4. Latinvadum

From Proto-Italic *waðom, from Proto-Indo-European *uh₂dʰóm (compare Proto-Germanic *wadą), from the root *weh₂dʰ-, the same source as vādō. Cognate with Old English wadan (whence English wade).

Descendants
  • Catalangual
  • Italianguado
  • Occitanga
  • Portuguesevaufrom Old Galician-Portuguese vao
  • Romanianvad
  • Sardinianbadu
  • Sardinianbau
  • Sardinianvadu
  • Spanishvado
  • Asturianvau

In English words that came into English from vadum

  • vadosevadosus

Quick answers

What does vadum mean in Latin?
vadum, a noun, means “A shallow, ford, shoal; A body of water; sea, stream”.
What is the genitive of vadum?
The genitive singular is vadī. vadum is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce vadum?
In classical Latin, [ˈwa.dũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvaː.dum].
Where does vadum come from?
Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- → Proto-Indo-European *wh₂dʰóm → Proto-Italic *waðom → Latin vadum.