LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adverb

vix

vix (not comparable)
Classical[ˈwɪks]Ecclesiastical[ˈviks]
№ 352 of the 1,000 commonest wordsMille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. not comparablewith difficulty, with effort; scarcely, hardly, barely
    Vix crēdendum est...It is hard to believe...
    […] vix feram sermōnēs hominum, sī id fēcerīs, vix mōlem istīus invidiae, sī in exsilium iussū cōnsulis ierīs, sustinēbō.[…] I shall scarcely endure the talk of men, if you do that, and I shall hardly withstand the burden of that unpopularity if you go into exile by the consul’s command.63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.23
  2. not comparabletemporalhardly, merely, just, scarcely
    vix... cum...
    Vix agmen novissimum extra munitiones processerat, cum Galli cohortati inter se,[…]flumen transire et iniquo loco committere proelium non dubitant.c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico VI.8

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

scarcely
vix — in Seneca, ch. XXI

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Vix · Ægre

Vix (ἧκα) means scarcely, and refers, like σχολῇ, only to a thing that was near not taking place, in opp. to omnino non, Cic. Att. iii. 23; whereas ægre means with much ado, like μόλις and λόγις, and refers to the agent, who is in a state of anxiety as to whether he shall succeed or fail, in opp. to facile, Cic. Sen. 20. (iii. 94.)

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

risum tenere vix posse
to be scarcely able to restrain one's laughter.
vix me contineo quin lacrimem
to be hardly able to restrain one's tears.
vix mihi tempero quin lacrimem
to be hardly able to restrain one's tears.
mente vix constare (Tusc. 4. 17. 39)
to compose oneself with difficulty.
dici vix (non) potest or vix potest dici (vix like non always before potest)
I cannot find words for...

vix, adv. etym. dub.; perh. from root vic- of vinco,
I. with difficulty, with much ado, hardly, scarcely, barely.
I. In gen.: quid est, sine his cur vivere velimus? mihi vero cum his ipsis vix; his autem detractis ne vix quidem, Cic. Fam. 9, 8, 2: quae vix aut ne vix quidem adpareant, id. Fin. 4, 13, 32: ut vix aut omnino non posset ... infirmari sua lex, id. Att. 3, 23, 2; cf.: profluens amnis aut vix aut nullo modo, conclusa autem aqua facile corrumpitur, id. N. D. 2, 7, 20: vix incedo inanis, ne, etc., Plaut. Am. 1, 1, 174: vix sum compos animi, Ter. Ad. 3, 2, 12: vix me contineo, quin involem, etc., id. Eun. 5, 2, 20: Thr. Hic sunt tres minae. Gn. Vix, id. ib. 3, 2, 19: vix in ipsis tectis frigus vitatur, Cic. Fam. 16, 8, 2: ego teneo ab accusando vix me hercule: sed tamen teneo, id. Q. Fr. 3, 2, 2: Gabinius collegit ipse se vix, sed collegit tamen, id. Pis. 12, 27: iter angustum et difficile, vix quā singuli carri ducerentur, Caes. B. G. 1, 6: brevi spatio interjecto, vix ut his rebus ... administrandis tempus daretur, id. ib. 3, 4; cf.: adeo, ut vix ulla possit causa reperiri, Quint. Inst. prooem. § 12: ex hominum milibus LX. vix ad D. sese redactos esse dixerunt, to scarcely five hundred, Caes. B. G. 2, 28: carcer vix carcere dignus, Lucil. ap. Don. Ter. Eun. 3, 2, 19 et saep.: ego vix teneor, quin accurram, Cic. Fam. 16, 24, 2: vix est, ut id obtineat, Dig. 41, 1, 7, § 7; so ib. 16, 1, 19 init.—
B. Strengthened,
1. By aegre: vix aegreque amatorculos invenimus, Plaut. Poen. 1, 2, 27: vix et aegre, App. M. 1, p. 111, 10: vix et aegerrime, id. ib. 1, p. 108, 40; v. aegre.—
2. By saltem: illud vix saltem praecipiendum videtur, Quint. 6, 4, 15.—
3. By repetition: corpus matri vix vixque remissum, Albin. 1, 167.—
II. In partic., of time, hardly, scarcely.
A. Absol.: assum atque advenio Acherunte vix via alta atque ardua, Poët. ap. Cic. Tusc. 1, 16, 37 (Trag. Rel. p. 208 Rib.): ah, vix tandem sensi stolidus! Ter. And. 3, 1, 12: vix tandem legi litteras, Cic. Fam. 3, 9, 1; Cat. 62, 2: contingat vix deinde mori, Val. Fl. 7, 537.—
B. With a foll. cum, and poet. also et, to denote the immediate succession of two events.
1. With cum: vix agmen novissimum extra munitiones processerat, cum Galli, etc., Caes. B. G. 6, 8: vix erat hoc plane imperatum, cum illum ... videres, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 40, § 86: vix ea fatus erat, geminae cum forte columbae ... caelo venere volantes, Verg. A. 6, 190; Ov. M. 1, 69.—
2. With et: vix primos inopina quies laxaverat artus, Et superincumbens ... liquidas projecit in undas Praecipitem, Verg. A. 5, 857; so, vix ... et, id. ib. 6, 498; Stat. Th. 5, 263; cf.: vix ... que, Verg. A. 2, 692.—
3. With ellipsis of cum or et: vix proram attigerat, rumpit Saturnia funem, Verg. A. 10, 659; 8, 337: vix bene desieram, rettulit illa mihi, Ov. F. 5, 278; Phaedr. 4, 24, 28 sq.; so, vix bene, Ov. M. 2, 47.—
C. Strengthened by dum, and usually written in one word, vixdum, hardly then, scarcely yet: Dolabella valde vituperabatur, quod tibi tam cito succederet, cum vixdum triginta dies in Syriā fuisses, Cic. Fam. 12, 4, 2: haec ego omnia vixdum etiam coetu nostro dimisso comperi, id. Cat. 1, 4, 10: (Hannibalem) vixdum puberem, Liv. 21, 3, 2: vixdum serio adnuere, id. 39, 42, 12: progressis vixdum quattuor milia passuum, id. 44, 5, 1; 32, 28, 4; 10, 32, 7: puer vixdum libertatem, nedum dominationem modice laturus, id. 24, 4, 1: vixdum dimidium dixeram: intellexerat, Ter. Phorm. 4, 2, 4: vixdum epistulam tuam legeram, cum, etc., Cic. Att. 9, 2, A, 3.—So with et, Liv. 36, 12, 5; 43, 4, 10; Plin. Ep. 7, 33, 7.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*weyk-
  2. Proto-Italic*wiks
  3. Latinvix

From Proto-Italic *wiks sg (nom.), *wiksu pl (“a turn, bend”, loc.), from Proto-Indo-European *weyk-.

Descendants
  • Romanianabia
  • Spanishabés
  • Old Navarro-Aragoneseveiza
  • Neapolitanvi
  • Romanshves
  • Aromanianayia
  • Asturianavésfrom Old Leonese abés

Quick answers

What does vix mean in Latin?
vix, a adverb, means “with difficulty, with effort; scarcely, hardly, barely; hardly, merely, just, scarcely”.
How do you pronounce vix?
In classical Latin, [ˈwɪks]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈviks].
Where does vix come from?
Proto-Indo-European *weyk- → Proto-Italic *wiks → Latin vix.