LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

vēlum

vēlum n (genitive vēlī)
Classical[ˈweː.ɫũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈvɛː.lum]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. a cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning
    Sed sī cancellī sint vel vēla, lēgārī poterunt, nōn tamen fistulae vel castellī.But while bar-doors or their veils can be legated, not so water-pipes or water-basins.a. 224, Ulpiānus, Dīgesta seu Pandectae, volume XXX, section 41.10:
  2. plural normallythe sail of a ship
    Ausoniōs fīnēs cūr mea vēla volunt?Why do my sails incline toward Italian shores? (Ausonia: Ancient Greek name for lower Italy.)8 CE – 12 CE, Ovidius, Tristia 1.2.92
    velum adversa feritstrikes the sail head-on.29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.103
  3. the soft palate

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

magnum et lātum; ventus vēlum implet et nāvem agit.
vēlum -ī n — in Mille Verba, Mare et Nāvēs
pannus pendēns dīvidēns
vēlum -ī (n) — in Epistulae, ch. 10
pannus extentus quī sōlem arcet
vēlum -ī (n) — in Metamorphoses I, ch. 11, 21

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevēlumvēla
genitivevēlīvēlōrum
dativevēlōvēlīs
accusativevēlumvēla
ablativevēlōvēlīs
vocativevēlumvēla

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

vela dare
to set the sails.
vela armamentaque
sails and rigging.
vela facere, pandere
to set the sails.
vela contrahere (also metaph.)
to furl the sails.
vela in altum dare (Liv. 25. 27)
to put to sea.

vēlum, i, n. root var, to cover; cf. vellus, and v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 459,
I. a cloth, covering, awning, curtain, veil: tabernacula carbaseis intenta velis, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 12, § 30: velis amictos non togis, id. Cat. 2, 10, 22: eadem (i. e. uxor) si quando recito, in proximo, discreta velo, sedet, Plin. Ep. 4, 19, 3.—So of chamber-curtains, hangings, Suet. Claud. 10; Juv. 6, 228; 9, 105: adlevare, Sen. Ep. 80, 1.—Of the awnings stretched over the theatre or other public places as a protection from the sun, Lucr. 4, 75; Prop. 4 (5), 1, 15; Ov. A. A. 1, 103; Inscr. Orell. 2219; Val. Max. 2, 4, 6; cf. Plin. 19, 1, 6, § 23: multis simulationum involucris tegitur et quasi velis quibusdam obtenditur unius cujusque natura, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 5, § 15.—
II. Esp., a sail (in good prose usually in plur.).
(a). Plur.: scindere vela, Plaut. Trin. 4, 1, 18: ad id, unde aliquis flatus ostenditur, vela do, Cic. de Or. 2, 44, 187: dare, id. Or. 23, 75; Liv. 31, 45, 11; Quint. 10, 3, 7; Hor. C. 1, 34, 4: facere, Cic. Tusc. 4, 4, 9; Verg. A. 5, 281; cf. fieri, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 34, § 88: pandere, Quint. 6, 1, 52: solvere, Verg. A. 4, 574: deducere, Ov. M. 3, 663: dirigere ad castra Corneliana, Caes. B. C. 2, 25: quo utinam velis passis pervehi liceat! Cic. Tusc. 1, 49, 119: contrahere, id. Att. 1, 16, 2; Quint. 12, praef. § 4; Hor. C. 2, 10, 24: subducere, Auct. B. Alex. 45, 3: legere, Verg. G. 1, 373: tendunt vela Noti, id. A. 3, 268: ventis inplere, id. ib. 7, 23: classem velis aptare, id. ib. 3, 472.— Poet., of wings: pennarum, Lucr. 6, 744. —
(b). Sing.: navale velum, Macr. S. 5, 21, 5: in pontum vento secundo, velo passo pervenit, Plaut. Stich. 2, 2, 45; id. Mil. 4, 8, 7; id. Ep. 1, 1, 47; Verg. A. 1, 103; 1, 400; Ov. H. 13, 101: pleno concita velo puppis, id. M. 7, 491; 11, 483 al.—
b. Prov.: remis velisque, with oars and sails, i. e. with tooth and nail, with might and main: res velis, ut ita dicam, remisque fugienda, Cic. Tusc. 3, 11, 25; cf.: remigio veloque quantum potis es festina et fuge, Plaut. As. 1, 3, 5 (cf. the similar phrase, remis ventisque, sub remus); cf.: non agimur tumidis velis, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 201: plenissimis velis navigare, Cic. Dom. 10, 24.—
B. Trop.: utrum panderem vela orationis statim, an, etc., Cic. Tusc. 4, 5, 9: dare vela Famae, Mart. 8, 70, 6: voti contrahe vela tui, Ov. P. 1, 8, 72: velis majoribus, with more zeal, id. A. A. 2, 725; id. F. 2, 3: in quo tu ingenii simul dolorisque velis latissime vectus es, Plin. Ep. 4, 20, 2: dedimus vela indignationi, dedimus irae, id. ib. 6, 33, 10: pande vela, ac, si quando alias, toto ingenio vehere, id. ib. 8, 4, 5.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weg-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*wegslomder.?
  3. Proto-Indo-European*weǵʰ-der.?
  4. Proto-Italic*wekslom
  5. Latinvēlum

From Proto-Italic *wekslom (note the Latin term's diminutive form vēxillum, as in pālus > pāxillus), which lends credence to this reconstruction), with two competing theories: * From Proto-Indo-European *wegslom, from *weg- (“to weave, bind”). Cognate with English wick, Welsh gweu (“to weave”). * Others refer it to *weǵʰ- (“to ride”), thus "that which propels"; in this case, cognate with Proto-Slavic *veslo (“oar”). This is semantically less attractive than the above theory.

Gallo-Romance
  • Frenchvoilefrom Old French voil
  • Englishveilfrom Old French voil
  • Catalanvel
  • Occitanvel
  • Normanvouailefrom Old French voil
Borrowings
  • Englishvelum
  • Romanianvăl
  • Spanishvelo
  • Portuguesevelafrom Old Galician-Portuguese vela
  • Albanianvel
  • Hebrewוִילוֹן
  • Irishfialfrom Old Irish fíal
  • Romanshvel
  • Classical Syriacܘܝܠܐ
  • Galicianvelafrom Old Galician-Portuguese vela
Italo-Romance
  • Italianvelo
  • Italianvela
  • Romanianvelăfrom Italian vela
  • Dalmatianvaila
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesevéufrom Old Galician-Portuguese veo
  • Spanishvela
  • Asturianvela
  • Mirandesebela
  • Old Galician-Portuguesevea
  • Chamicurowelafrom Spanish vela
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianvela
  • Sardinianbela
Southern Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanvela
  • Occitanvela
Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friulianvele
Northern Gallo-Romance
  • Old Frenchvoile
  • Old Frenchveile
  • Old Frenchveille

Quick answers

What does vēlum mean in Latin?
vēlum, a noun, means “a cloth, covering, curtain, veil, awning; the sail of a ship; the soft palate”.
What is the genitive of vēlum?
The genitive singular is vēlī. vēlum is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce vēlum?
In classical Latin, [ˈweː.ɫũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvɛː.lum].
Where does vēlum come from?
Proto-Indo-European *weg- → Proto-Indo-European *wegslomder.? → Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-der.? → Proto-Italic *wekslom → Latin vēlum.