vexillum
See also: Vexillum
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin vēxillum (“flag, banner”).
Noun
vexillum (plural vexilla)
- A flag, banner, or standard.
- A company of troops serving under one standard.
- The sign of the cross.
- (botany) The upper petal of a papilionaceous flower.
- (ornithology) The rhachis and web of a feather taken together.
- Synonym: vane
Related terms
- vexilloid
- vexillar
- vexillary
Translations
a flag, banner or standard
|
a company of troops serving under one standard
sign of the cross — see sign of the cross
the upper petal of a papilionaceous flower
|
vane — see vane
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for vexillum in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913)
Latin
Alternative forms
- vixillum (Vulgar or Late Latin, Pompeian inscriptions)
Etymology
From Proto-Italic *wekslolom, synchronically a diminutive form of vēlum.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /u̯eːkˈsil.lum/, [u̯eːkˈs̠ɪlːʲʊ̃ˑ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /vekˈsil.lum/, [veɡˈzilːum]
- Note: dictionaries disagree over the length of the root vowel, but there's good evidence that it was long.[1]
Noun
vēxillum n (genitive vēxillī); second declension
- flag, banner
- 6th century, Venantius Fortunatus, Vexilla regis, first stanza:
- Vexilla regis prodeunt
Fulget crucis mysterium
Quo carne carnis conditor,
Suspensus est patibulo.- The Banners of the King issue forth,
the mystery of the Cross does gleam,
where the Creator of flesh, in the flesh,
from the cross-bar is hung.
- The Banners of the King issue forth,
- 6th century, Venantius Fortunatus, Vexilla regis, first stanza:
Declension
Second-declension noun (neuter).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | vēxillum | vēxilla |
| Genitive | vēxillī | vēxillōrum |
| Dative | vēxillō | vēxillīs |
| Accusative | vēxillum | vēxilla |
| Ablative | vēxillō | vēxillīs |
| Vocative | vēxillum | vēxilla |
Descendants
- → Catalan: vexil·la
- → German: Vexillum
- → English: vexillum, vexillo-
- → Galician: vexilo
- → Portuguese: vexilo
References
- “vexillum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “vexillum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- vexillum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- vexillum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
- to fix the ensign on the general's tent (as a signal to commence the engagement): vexillum proponere (Liv. 22. 3)
- to fix the ensign on the general's tent (as a signal to commence the engagement): vexillum proponere (Liv. 22. 3)
- “vexillum”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- “vexillum”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
- http://www.alatius.com/latin/bennetthidden.html