vetō¹

Meaning

1. to forbid, prevent, prohibit
   Quippe vetor fātīs.“No doubt it is forbidden by the Fates.” (Juno seeks to destroy the Trojans despite the will of the Fates.)29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.39
2. to advise not to
   Prāgmaticī hominēs omnibus historiīs, praeceptīs, versibus dēnique cavēre iubent et vetant crēdere.Prudent men in all their histories, teachings and verse besides tell us to beware and advise us not to believe.68 BCE – 44 BCE, Cicero, Epistulae ad Atticum 2.20.1
3. to oppose, veto
   Quod nōn vetat lēx, hoc vetat fierī pudor.What law forbids not, decency forbids be done.c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Troades 334

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Conjugation conjugation 1

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

vetamur vetere proverbio

an old proverb tells us not to...

lex iubet, vetat (dilucide, planissime)

the law orders, forbids (expressly, distinctly).

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *weth₂-der. Old Latin votō Latin vetō Perhaps from earlier votō, from Proto-Italic *wotāō or *wotaō. The former pre-form could reflect Proto-Indo-European *woth₂-eh₂-yeti, whereas the latter pre-form would reflect *woth₂-éye-ti, whence also perhaps Welsh gwadu (“to deny”). In either case, from the root *weth₂- (“to say”). However, the Old Latin form votō might be an intentionally archaizing form that deliberately added vo- in response to the 2nd-century change of vo- > ve- before s, t, and rC. Another possibility is that it reflects a regular development of e > o after w and before a back-vowel in the following syllable (e.g. vomō). In this case, a pre-form *wet- could be reconstructed, Nevertheless, Schrijver suggests that it is more likely that the PIE pre-form contained the o-grade, as the Latin term belongs to the type domō, domāre ~ domuī ~ domitus and sonō, sonāre ~ sonuī ~ sonitus, both of which themselves might display the o-grade in the root.

Meaning

1. I forbid it! I protest!

Origins

Proto-Indo-European *weth₂-der. Old Latin votō Latin vetō Perhaps from earlier votō, from Proto-Italic *wotāō or *wotaō. The former pre-form could reflect Proto-Indo-European *woth₂-eh₂-yeti, whereas the latter pre-form would reflect *woth₂-éye-ti, whence also perhaps Welsh gwadu (“to deny”). In either case, from the root *weth₂- (“to say”). However, the Old Latin form votō might be an intentionally archaizing form that deliberately added vo- in response to the 2nd-century change of vo- > ve- before s, t, and rC. Another possibility is that it reflects a regular development of e > o after w and before a back-vowel in the following syllable (e.g. vomō). In this case, a pre-form *wet- could be reconstructed, Nevertheless, Schrijver suggests that it is more likely that the PIE pre-form contained the o-grade, as the Latin term belongs to the type domō, domāre ~ domuī ~ domitus and sonō, sonāre ~ sonuī ~ sonitus, both of which themselves might display the o-grade in the root.