LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

vagus

vagus (feminine vaga, neuter vagum, adverb vagē)
Classical[ˈwa.ɡʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈvaː.ɡus]
№ 674 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivewandering, rambling, strolling, roving, roaming, unfixed, unsettled, vagrant
    vagus animisgone insane, gone mad
  2. adjectivefigurativelywandering, wavering, unsteady, inconstant, doubtful, uncertain, vague
  3. adjectiveundecided, fickle
    vagus animiundecided mind

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī sine viā certā errat; stēllae vagae.
vagus -a -um — in Mille Verba, ch. Via et Iter

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Errare · Vagari · Palari

Errare (ἔῤῥειν) is to go astray, πλανᾶσθαι, an involuntary wandering about, when one knows not the right way; vagari and palari, on the other hand, mean a voluntary wandering; vagari, like ἀλᾶσθαι, when one disdains a settled residence, or straight path, and wanders about unsteadily; palari (from pandere?) when one separates from one’s company, and wanders about alone. Erramus ignari, vagamur soluti, palamur dispersi. Tac. H. i. 68. Undique populatio et cædes; ipsi in medio vagi; abjectis armis magna pars, saucii aut palantes in montem Vocetiam perfugiunt. (i. 89.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevagus
vagulus		vaga
vagula		vagum
vagulum
genitivevagī
vagulī		vagae
vagulae		vagī
vagulī
dativevagō
vagulō		vagae
vagulae		vagō
vagulō
accusativevagum
vagulum		vagam
vagulam		vagum
vagulum
ablativevagō
vagulō		vagā
vagulā		vagō
vagulō
vocativevage
vagule		vaga
vagula		vagum
vagulum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevagī
vagulī		vagae
vagulae		vaga
vagula
genitivevagōrum
vagulōrum		vagārum
vagulārum		vagōrum
vagulōrum
dativevagīs
vagulīs		vagīs
vagulīs		vagīs
vagulīs
accusativevagōs
vagulōs		vagās
vagulās		vaga
vagula
ablativevagīs
vagulīs		vagīs
vagulīs		vagīs
vagulīs
vocativevagī
vagulī		vagae
vagulae		vaga
vagula

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

stellae errantes, vagae
the planets.

văgus, a, um, adj. root vagh-; Sanscr. vāhas; Gr. ὄχος, wagon; cf. veho,
I. strolling about, rambling, roving, roaming, wandering, unfixed, unsettled, vagrant (freq. and class.; syn. errabundus).
I. Lit.: cum vagus et exsul erraret, Cic. Clu. 62, 175: itaque vagus esse cogitabam, id. Att. 7, 11, 5: dum existimabam vagos nos fore, id. ib. 7, 26, 3: Gaetuli vagi, palantes, Sall. J. 18, 2; cf. id. ib. 19, 5: multitudo dispersa atque vaga, Cic. Rep. 1, 25, 40 (from Aug. Ep. 138, 10): quae circum vicinos vaga es, Plaut. Mil. 2, 5, 14: navita, Tib. 1, 3, 39: mercator, Hor. A. P. 117: Hercules, id. C. 3, 3, 9: scurra, id. Ep. 1, 15, 28: tibicen, id. A. P. 215: pecus, id. C. 3, 13, 12: aves, id. ib. 4, 4, 2: cornix, id. ib. 3, 27, 16: pisces, id. S. 2, 4, 77: vagi per silvas ritu ferarum, Quint. 8, 3, 81; cf. also: saepe vagos extra limina ferte pedes, Ov. A. A. 3, 418: refringit virgulta pede vago, Cat. 63, 84: ne bestiae quidem ... facile patiuntur sese contineri motusque solutos et vagos a naturā sibi tributos requirunt, unrestrained, Cic. Fin. 5, 20, 56: peregrinationes, Sen. Tranq. 2, 13: errores, Ov. M. 4, 502: gressus, Mart. 2, 57, 1.—Of inanim. things: quae (sidera) autem vaga et mutabili erratione labuntur, Cic. Univ. 10; cf.: quae (stellae) errantes et quasi vagae nominarentur, id. Rep. 1, 14, 22: Aurorā exoriente vagi sub limina Solis, Cat. 64, 271: luna, Hor. S. 1, 8, 21: aequora, Tib. 2, 6, 3: flumina, Hor. C. 1, 34, 9: Tiberis, id. ib. 1, 2, 18: venti, id. ib. 3, 29, 24: fulmina, Ov. M. 1, 596: flamma, Hor. S. 1, 5, 73: crines, Ov. M. 2, 673: harena, flying, light, Hor. C. 1, 28, 23: domus (Scytharum), id. ib. 3, 24, 10: lumina noctis, Stat. Th. 3, 63: febres, sporadic, Cels. 3, 5: fel toto corpore, diffusing itself, Plin. 11, 37, 75, § 193.—
II. Trop., wandering, wavering, unsteady, inconstant, doubtful, uncertain, vague: (in oratione) solutum quiddam sit nec vagum tamen, capricious, Cic. Or. 23, 77: genus orationum, id. Brut. 31, 119; cf.: pars quaestionum vaga et libera et late patens, indefinite, vague, id. de Or. 2, 16, 67: nomen Ambrosiae et circa alias herbas fluctuatum, Plin. 27, 4, 11, § 28: de dis immortalibus habere non errantem et vagam, sed stabilem certamque sententiam, Cic. N. D. 2, 1, 2: vaga volubilisque fortuna, id. Mil. 26, 69: vaga popularisque supplicatio, irregular, i. e. celebrated as men chanced to meet, without legal appointment, Liv. 3, 63, 5: incertum diu et quasi vagum imperium, Suet. Vesp. 1: vagus adhuc Domitius, i. e. vacillating between the parties, Vell. 2, 76, 2: puellae, inconstant in love, Prop. 1, 5, 7: vagae moderator juventae, flighty, giddy, Mart. 2, 90, 1; Stat. S. 4, 6, 2: concubitu prohibere vago, i. e. promiscuous, Hor. A. P. 398; so Col. 12, 1, 2; Mart. 6, 21, 6.—Poet., with gen.: vagus animi, wandering in mind, Cat. 63, 4.—adv.: văgē, here and there, far and wide, dispersedly: vage effusi per agros palatique, etc., Liv. 26, 39, 22: res sparsae et vage disjectae, Auct. Her. 4, 2, 3: dispergere, id. ib. 4, 31, 42: dicere, Sen. Q. N. 2, 48, 2.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*Hwogos
  2. Proto-Italic*wagos?
  3. Latinvagus

Uncertain. De Vaan suggests from Proto-Italic *wagos, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *Hwogos, and compares this form to Old Norse vakka (“to totter”), Old High German wankon (“to totter”), winkan (“to waver, stagger”), Old English wincian (“to nod”). Compare also with Lithuanian võgti (“to steal”).

Descendants
  • Catalanvague
  • Englishvagus
  • Italianvago
  • Englishvaguefrom Old French vague
  • Frenchvaguefrom Old French vague
  • Portuguesevago
  • Romanianvag
  • Spanishvago
  • Czechvágní
  • Galicianvago

In English words that came into English from vagus

  • vaguevagus
  • vagabondvagābundus
  • extravaganceextra
  • vagaryvagor
  • astrayextravagari
  • divagatedīvagātus
  • vagusvagus
  • vagaristvagus
  • vagilevagus
  • mundivagantmundus
  • solivagantsōlivagāns
  • noctivagousnoctivagus
  • evagateevagor
  • solivagoussolivagus
  • omnivagantvagans

Quick answers

What does vagus mean in Latin?
vagus, a adjective, means “wandering, rambling, strolling, roving, roaming, unfixed, unsettled, vagrant; wandering, wavering, unsteady, inconstant, doubtful, uncertain, vague; undecided, fickle”.
How do you pronounce vagus?
In classical Latin, [ˈwa.ɡʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvaː.ɡus].
Where does vagus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *Hwogos → Proto-Italic *wagos? → Latin vagus.
Which English words come from vagus?
English words that go back to Latin vagus include vague, vagus, vagarist, vagile, extravagance and vagary.