LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinesecond declension

vir

vir m (genitive virī)
Classical[ˈwɪr]Ecclesiastical[ˈvir]
№ 85 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. masculineman (adult male human)
    Arma virumque cano.I sing of arms and a man.29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.1
  2. masculinebrave or courageous man, hero, warrior
  3. masculinehusband
  4. masculinefoot soldier

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

homō quī nōn fēmina est; etiam marītus; etiam fortis: vir vērus!
vir -ī m — in Mille Verba, ch. Vīta et Mors

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Homo · Mas · Vir · Homunculus · Homuncio · Homullus

1. Homo (Goth. guma, from humus, χθών, ἐπιχθόνιος), means a human being, man or woman, in opp. to deus and bellua, like ἄνθρωπος; mas and vir mean only the man; mas in a physical sense, in opp. to femina, like ἄρσην; vir (Goth. wair, from ἰρῆνες), in a physical sense, in opp. to mulier, like ἀνήρ. Sen. Polyb. 36. Non sentire mala sua non est hominis, at non ferre non est viri. Ep. 103. Cic. Tusc. ii. 22. Fam. v. 17. Justin, xi. 13. 2. Homunculus denotes the weak and powerless being called man, with reference to the whole race, in opp. to the Deity, to nature in general, to the universe, etc.; homuncio and homullus denote the weak and insignificant man, as an individual, in opp. to other men; homuncio, with a feeling of pity; homullus, with a feeling of scorn. (v. 133.)

Puer · Infans · Adolescens · Juvenis · Vir · Vetus · Senex

Puer (from parere, πάϊς,) in a wider sense, is the man in his dependent years, so long as he neither can be, nor is, the father of a family, as a young person, in three periods, as infans, νήπιος, παιδίον, from his first years till he is seven; as puer, in a narrower sense, παῖς, from his seventh year till he is sixteen; as commencing adolescens (from ἄλθειν) a youngster, μειράκιον, νεανίας, from his sixteenth year. Juvenis, in a wider sense, is as long as he remains in his years of greatest strength, from about the time of his being of age to the first appearances of advanced age, as the young man νέος, which also may be divided into three periods;—as ceasing to be adolescens, from his eighteenth year; as juvenis (from ζέω) in a narrower sense, νεανίας, from his four-and-twentieth year; as beginning to be vir, ἀνήρ, from his thirtieth year. Maturus is the man in his ripest years, when the wild fire of youth has evaporated, and may be divided into three periods;—as ceasing to be vir, ἀνήρ, from his fortieth year; as vetus, γέρων, from his fiftieth year; as senex, (ἄναξ) πρεσβύτης, from his sixtieth year. (v. 45.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevirvirī
genitivevirīvirōrum
virum
dativevirōvirīs
accusativevirumvirōs
ablativevirōvirīs
vocativevirvirī

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

vir doctissimus
a great scholar.
vir fortissimus
a hero.
vir defunctus honoribus
a man who has held every office (up to the consulship).
vir omni doctrina eruditus
a man perfect in all branches of learning.
vir magno ingenio praeditus
a man of ability.
vir magno ingenio, ingeniosus
a man of ability.
vir ut temporibus illis doctus
a man of considerable learning for those times.
vir or homo doctus, litteratus
a man of learning; a scholar; a savant.
9 more phrases
vir perfecte planeque eruditus
a man of profound erudition.
Pericles summus vir illius aetatis
Pericles, the greatest man of his day.
repudium remittere viro (Dig. 24. 3)
to separate (of the woman).
viri clari et honorati (De Sen. 7. 22)
men of rank and dignity.
Pericles, vir omnium, qui tum fuerunt, clarissimus
Pericles, the greatest man of his day.
vir constans, gravis (opp. homo inconstans, levis)
a man of character, with a strong personality.
multi viri docti, or multi et ii docti (not multi docti)
many learned men; many scholars.
summa est virorum doctissimorum consensio (opp. dissensio)
the learned men are most unanimous in...
viri rerum civilium, rei publicae gerendae periti or viri in re publica prudentes
statesmen.

vĭr, vĭri (
I. gen. plur. virūm, Enn. ap. Charis. p. 251 P., or Ann. v. 280 Vahl.; id. ap. Fest. p. 257 Müll., or Ann. v. 394 Vahl.; Verg. A. 6, 553 al.), m. Sanscr. vira, hero; the root is in O. H. Germ. weralt; Angl.Sax. veruld; Engl. world, i. e. age or generation of men, a male person, a man (opp. femina; cf. mas).
I. In gen.: virum me natam vellem, Ter. Phorm. 5, 3, 9: deque viro factus (mirabile') femina, Ov. M. 3, 326: ambiguus fuerit modo vir, modo femina Sithon, id. ib. 4, 280: mulier conjuncta viro, Lucr. 5, 1012: vir mulierque, Tib. 2, 2, 2: sapientissimorum nostrae civitatis virorum disputatio, Cic. Rep. 1, 8, 13: vir prudens, id. ib. 1, 12, 18: clari viri, id. Fam. 6, 6, 12: vir clarus et honoratus, id. Sen. 7, 22: praestantior, id. ib. 23, 84: bonus et sapiens et legibus parens, id. Fin. 3, 19, 64; cf. id. Off. 3, 15, 64; v. bonus: optimi (opp. homines improbi), id. Cael. 5, 12: fortis, id. Fin. 3, 8, 29; id. Rep. 1, 3, 5: turpissimus, Sall. J. 85, 42: nefandus, Verg. A. 4, 498.—
II. In partic.
A. A man as related to a woman, a husband, maritus (very freq.): is (Juppiter) amare occepit Alcumenam clam virum, Plaut. Am. prol. 107; 111; 134; 1, 3, 4; Ter. Hec. 4, 1, 1: quem (vultum) dicitur Xanthippe praedicare solita in viro suo fuisse, Cic. Tusc. 3, 15, 31; Cic. Verr. 5, 31, 82; id. Cael. 13, 32; id. Fam. 7, 23, 4; Liv. 1, 46, 6; Hor. C. 2, 18, 28; 3, 3, 68; id. S. 1, 2, 127 al.; Ov. M. 1, 146; Petr. 111; Quint. 5, 10, 62; 5, 11, 28; 7, 1, 28; Suet. Aug. 69; id. Calig. 25; id. Claud. 29; id. Ner. 35; id. Dom. 22 al.—Transf., of animals, the male, mate, etc., Verg. E. 7, 7; Ov. M. 1, 660; Mart. 3, 93, 11; Sol. 23.—
B. A man (opp. a boy): pueri hoc possunt, viri non potuerunt? Cic. Tusc. 2, 14, 34: ex toto non sic pueri ut viri curari debent, Cels. 3, 7 fin.: pueroque viroque, Ov. M. 13, 397: neque eos (pueros) prius in urbem redire, quam viri facti essent, statuit, Just. 3, 3, 7: cum essem parvulus ... quando factus sum vir, etc., Vulg. 1 Cor. 13, 11.—
C. Pregn., a man, a man of courage, principle, or honor, one who deserves the name of a man: Marius rusticanus vir, sed plane vir, cum secaretur, vetuit se alligari ... Ita et tulit dolorem, ut vir; et, ut homo, majorem ferre sine causā necessariā noluit, Cic. Tusc. 2, 22, 53; cf. id. Fam. 5, 17, 3: cum is jam se corroboravisset ac vir inter viros esset, id. Cael. 5, 11: te oro, te colligas virumque praebeas, id. Fam. 5, 18, 1: si vir esse volet, praeclara συνοδία, id. Att. 10, 7, 2: tum viro et gubernatore opus est, Liv. 24, 8, 1; 1, 41, 3; 1, 46, 6; 2, 38, 6 et saep.: si quid in Flacco viri est, Non feret, Hor. Epod. 15, 12.—
D. In milit. lang.
1. In gen., like our man, for soldier (syn. miles): dispertiti viri, dispertiti ordines, Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 65; cf.: boat Caelum fremitu virum, id. ib. 1, 1, 78: vir unus cum viro congrediendo, T. Manlius, M. Valerius, quantum Gallicam rabiem vinceret Romana virtus, docuerunt, Liv. 38, 17, 8.—
2. In partic., as opposed to the cavalry, a foot-soldier (syn. pedes): equites virique, Liv. 21, 27, 1: magnā voce trahens equitemque virosque, Sil. 9, 559: passim turmaeque virique, etc., Petr. 123.—Hence, prov.: equis viris, or viris equisque, with horse and foot, i. e. with might and main; v. equus.—
E. With emphasis in place of a pronoun of reference, is, ille, etc.: fletusque et conploratio fregere tandem virum, Liv. 2, 40, 9: hae tantae viri virtutes, id. 21, 4, 9; Sall. J. 9, 3.—
F. Distributively, each man, every man: vir virum legit, of choosing a senator, Suet. Aug. 35: vir cum viro congrediaris, Liv. 22, 14, 14: legitque virum vir, singled out (in battle), Verg. A. 11, 632 (an imitation of Hom. Il. 4, 472: ἀνὴρ δʼ ἄνδρʼ ἐδνοπάλιζεν): cum vir virum legisset, i. e. a companion in battle, Liv. 9, 39, 5; cf., in a sarcastic transfer-: ille (Clodius), qui semper secum scorta, semper exoletos, semper lupas ducebat, tum neminem, nisi ut virum a viro lectum esse diceres, Cic. Mil. 21, 55.—
G. Human beings (poet. homines, opp. pecudes), Ov. M. 1, 286; cf. Verg. A. 6, 553.—
H. Manhood, virility (poet. and very rare): ut relicta sensit sibi membra sine viro, Cat. 63, 6: ferro mollita juventus Atque exsecta virum, Luc. 10, 134.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Displaced Proto-Italic *nēr. Cognates include Sanskrit वीर (vīrá), Old Prussian wijrs, Lithuanian vyras, Latvian vīrs, Old Irish fer, Old Norse verr, Ossetian ир (ir, “Ossetians”) and Old English wer (English were-; also see world).

Descendants
  • Italianviro

Quick answers

What does vir mean in Latin?
vir, a noun, means “man (adult male human); brave or courageous man, hero, warrior; husband”.
What is the genitive of vir?
The genitive singular is virī. vir is masculine, second declension.
How do you pronounce vir?
In classical Latin, [ˈwɪr]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈvir].