Vesuvius

Vesuvius

English

Etymology

From Latin Vesuvius, of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vəˈsu.vi.əs/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ve‧su‧vi‧us

Proper noun

Vesuvius

1. A volcanic mountain in Italy.

Derived terms

• Vesuvian, vesuvin

Translations

volcano in Italy

Arabic: فِيزُوف‎ m (fizūf) Armenian: Վեզուվ (Vezuv) Catalan: Vesuvi m Chinese: Mandarin: 維蘇威火山／维苏威火山 (Wéisūwēi huǒshān) Czech: Vesuv Danish: Vesuv Dutch: Vesuvius Esperanto: Vezuvio Estonian: Vesuuv Finnish: Vesuvius French: Vésuve (fr) m Galician: Vesuvio m Georgian: ვეზუვი (vezuvi) German: Vesuv (de) m Greek: Βεζούβιος (el) m (Vezoúvios) Hungarian: Vezúv (hu) Irish: Veasúiv f Italian: Vesuvio m Japanese: ヴェスヴィオ (Vesuvio), ヴェスヴィオ火山 (Vesuvio-kazan), ベスビオ火山 (Besubio-kazan) Latin: Vesuvius m Latvian: Vezuvs m Lithuanian: Vezuvijus m Macedonian: Везув m (Vezuv) Norwegian: Vesuv Polish: Wezuwiusz (pl) m Portuguese: Vesúvio m Romanian: Vezuviu m Russian: Везу́вий (ru) m (Vezúvij) Spanish: Vesubio m Swedish: Vesuvius Turkish: Vezüv

Noun

Vesuvius (plural Vesuviuses)

1. A kind of firework supposed to resemble a volcano eruption.

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Latin

Vesuvius Mons in Campania

Oswald Achenbach's Naples, Eruption of Vesuvius in 1872 (1890)

Alternative forms

• Vesēvus, Vesaevus (collateral forms)
• Vesvius, Vesbius (contracted collateral forms)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; however, proposed derivations include:

• Latin vē- +‎ Ancient Greek σβέ(ννῡμι) (sbé(nnūmi), “I am quenched”, “I go out”)
• Oscan 𐌚𐌄𐌔𐌚 (fesf, “steam”, “smoke”)
• Proto-Celtic *ves (“mountain”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /u̯eˈsu.u̯i.us/, [u̯ɛˈs̠uː̯iʊs̠]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /veˈsu.vi.us/, [veˈs̬uːvius]

Proper noun

Vesuvius m sg (genitive Vesuviī or Vesuvī); second declension

1. Vesuvius (a celebrated volcano in Campania)

Declension

Second-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Vesuvius
Genitive	Vesuviī Vesuvī1
Dative	Vesuviō
Accusative	Vesuvium
Ablative	Vesuviō
Vocative	Vesuvī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• Vesuvīnus (“of, belonging to Vesuvius”, adjective)

Descendants

• English: Vesuvius
• Italian: Vesuvio
• Portuguese: Vesúvio
• Polish: Wezuwiusz
• Russian: Везу́вий (Vezúvij)
  • Armenian: Վեզուվ (Vezuv)
• Sicilian: Visuviu
• Spanish: Vesubio

See also

• Campānia

References

• “Vĕsŭvĭus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Vĕsŭvĭus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,668/1