LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

vīvus

vīvus (feminine vīva, neuter vīvum)
Classical[ˈwiː.wʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈviː.vus]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. adjectivealive, living
  2. adjectivenative, genuine, in the natural state
  3. adjectivebright, lit, burning, kindled
  4. adjective(fast-)flowing, running
  5. adjectivedurable, lasting, persistent
  6. adjectivelively, ardent

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

quī vīvit.
vīvus -a -um — in Mille Verba, ch. Vīta et Mors
alive
vīvus — in Seneca, ch. IX

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Vigens · Vegetus · Vividus · Vivus · Animans · Vitalis · Vivax

1. Vigens (ἀΐξαι) denotes a man, both in body and mind, fresh and in full strength; vegetus, one, in a mental sense, on the alert and animated; vividus (from ἠΰς? or from vis?), one, in a moral sense, full of life and energy. Liv. vi. 22. Exactæ jam ætatis Camillus erat . . . sed vegetum ingenium in vivido pectore vigebat, virebatque integris sensibus. 2. Vivus (Goth. quiws) means living, in opp. to dead; animans, possessing life, in opp. to inanimate. 3. Vitalis means long-lived; vivax, tenacious of life. (iv. 445.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevīvusvīvavīvum
genitivevīvīvīvaevīvī
dativevīvōvīvaevīvō
accusativevīvumvīvamvīvum
ablativevīvōvīvāvīvō
vocativevīvevīvavīvum
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevīvīvīvaevīva
genitivevīvōrumvīvārumvīvōrum
dativevīvīsvīvīsvīvīs
accusativevīvōsvīvāsvīva
ablativevīvīsvīvīsvīvīs
vocativevīvīvīvaevīva

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

capere aliquem vivum
to take a person alive.
non id ad vivum reseco (Lael. 5. 8)
I do not take that too strictly.
aqua viva, profluens (opp. stagnum)
running water.

vīvus, a, um (
I. sup. vivissimus, cited without example by Fest. p. 379 Müll.), adj. vivo, alive, living, that has life.
I. Lit.
A. Adj.
1. Of living beings: qui cum tantum ausus sit ustor pro mortuo, quid signifer pro vivo non esset ausus? In curiam potissimum abjecit, ut eam mortuus incenderet, quam vivus everterat, Cic. Mil. 33, 90: quorum (simulacrorum) contexta viminibus membra vivis hominibus complent, Caes. B. G. 6, 16: adeo ut Cato vix vivus effugeret, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 2, 5, § 15; Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 77, § 189; 2, 4, 40, § 87: si Jugurtham vivom aut necatum sibi tradidisset, Sall. J. 61, 5: doctus eris vivam (gallinam) musto mersare Falerno, Hor. S. 2, 4, 19: quamquam ea Tatio sic erant descripta vivo, tamen eo interfecto multo etiam magis, etc., in the lifetime of Tatius, Cic. Rep. 2, 8, 14: tantum illo vivo, Hirt. B. G. 8, 21 fin.: cum leges duo ex unā familiā, vivo utroque, magistratus creari vetarent, Caes. B. G. 7, 33; cf. also: Cato affirmat, se vivo illum non triumphaturum, as long as he lived, Cic. Att. 4, 16, 2; so, me vivo, Plaut. Bacch. 3, 3, 15; id. Most. 1, 3, 73: vivā me, id. Bacch. 3, 4, 17.—So the phrase vivus vidensque, before his very eyes: huic acerbissimum vivo videntique funus ducitur, Cic. Quint. 15, 50; cf.: ille Cyprius miser ... vivus (ut aiunt) est et videns cum victu ac vestitu suo publicatus, id. Sest. 27, 59; cf.: et prudens sciens, Vivos vidensque pereo, Ter. Eun. 1, 1, 28.—Subst.: vīvus, i, m., a living man: cum is, cui forma mortui, fortunae vivi commendatae sunt, ignominiā mortuum, inopiā vivum adfecerit, is inter honestos homines atque adeo inter vivos numerabitur? Cic. Rosc. Am. 39, 113. —
2. Of things concr. and abstr.: saepes, Col. 11, 3, 3: caespes, Ov. M. 4, 301: harundo, id. ib. 13, 891: virga, id. ib. 4, 744: radix, id. ib. 14, 713: aqua, running, Varr. L. L. 5, § 123 Müll.; so, flumen, Liv. 1, 45; Verg. A. 2, 719: lacus, id. G. 2, 469: ros, fresh, Ov. F. 4, 778: lucernae, burning, Hor. C. 3, 21, 23: lapis, flint, Plin. 36, 19, 30, § 138: sulphur, native, id. 35, 15, 50, § 175: linum, asbestos-cloth, id. 19, 1, 4, § 19; Cels. 5, 18, 13: calx, unslacked, Vitr. 8, 7; Plin. 29, 3, 11, § 51: saxum, living, natural, unwrought, Verg. A. 1, 167: pumex, Ov. F. 2, 315: argentum, quicksilver, mercury, Plin. 33, 6, 32, § 99: vultus, i. e. alive with expression, or, as we say, speaking, Verg. A. 6, 848.—So of statues and images: vidi artes veterumque manus variisque metalla viva modis, Stat. S. 1, 3, 48: vox, living, i. e. oral discourse, Cic. Agr. 2, 2, 4; Quint. 2, 2, 8; Sen. Ep. 6, 4; 33, 9; Plin. Ep. 2, 3, 9 al.: cujus facta viva nunc vigent, living, Naev. ap. Gell. 6, 8, 5: animus, lively, Plin. Ep. 8, 6, 17: pectus, Arn. 3, 6.—
B. Subst.: vīvum, i, n., lit., that which is alive; hence,
1. Ad vivum resecare, to cut to the quick, cut very deep: extrema pars ipsius unguis ad vivum resecatur, Col. 6, 12, 3 (cf. in the adj.: vulnera circumcidere ad vivas usque partes, Plin. 28, 10, 43, § 156): calor ad vivum adveniens, Liv. 22, 17, 2.—Trop.: hoc primum sentio, nisi in bonis amicitiam esse non posse: neque id ad vivum reseco, ut illi, qui haec subtilius disserunt, i. e. I do not wish to be understood in too strict a sense, Cic. Lael. 5, 18.—
2. De vivo detrahere or resecare aliquid, to give or take away from the capital: dat de lucro: nihil detraxit de vivo, Cic. Fl. 37, 91: de vivo igitur erat aliquid resecandum, ut esset, unde, etc., Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 50, § 118.—
II. Transf., lively, ardent (only post-Aug. and very rare): vivus et ingenuus animus, Plin. Ep. 8, 6, 17: vivi pectoris homo, Arn. 3, 103.—Adv.: vīvē, in a lively manner, very: vive sapis, Plaut. Ep. 2, 2, 100 Jacob. (dub.).

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*gʷeyh₃-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*gʷih₃wós
  3. Proto-Italic*gʷīwos
  4. Latinvīvus

From Proto-Italic *gʷīwos, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), from *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”) + *-wós (whence Latin -vus). Cognate with Sanskrit जीव (jīva), Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌿𐍃 (qius) and Ancient Greek βίος (bíos).

Insular Romance
  • Sardinianbibu
  • Sardinianbiu
  • Sardinianbivu
  • Sardinianviu
Gallo-Romance
  • Catalanviu
  • Frenchvif
  • Occitanviu
Ibero-Romance
  • Portuguesevivo
  • Spanishvivo
  • Aragonesevivo
  • Asturianvivu
  • Galicianvivo
  • Mirandesebibo
Balkan Romance
  • Romanianviu
  • Aromanianyiu
  • Aromanianghiu
  • Aromanianviu
  • Istro-Romanianviu
  • Megleno-Romanianghiu
  • Megleno-Romanianviu
  • unknown*vīvitia
Italo-Romance
  • Italianvivo
  • Corsicanvivu
  • Sicilianvivu
Dalmato-Romance
  • Dalmatianvi
North Italian
  • Friulianvîf
  • Friulianvîv
  • Piedmonteseviv
  • Romanshviv
  • Romanshveiv
  • Venetanvivo

In English words that came into English from vīvus

  • vipervīpera
  • vivisectionvīvus
  • viviparousvīviparus
  • vivariumvīvārium
  • ovoviviparousōvum
  • viviparyvīviparus
  • vivisepulturevīvus
  • redivivusredivīvus
  • vivevīvus
  • vivificationvīvificātiō
  • sempervivesemperviva
  • vivificatevīvificātus

Quick answers

What does vīvus mean in Latin?
vīvus, a adjective, means “alive, living; native, genuine, in the natural state; bright, lit, burning, kindled”.
How do you pronounce vīvus?
In classical Latin, [ˈwiː.wʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈviː.vus].
Where does vīvus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- → Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós → Proto-Italic *gʷīwos → Latin vīvus.
Which English words come from vīvus?
English words that go back to Latin vīvus include vivisection, vivisepulture, vive, viviparous, vivarium and vivipary.