English
vigour
Vigour comes from Latin vigor ‘vigor, liveliness, activity’, and goes back to vigeō ‘thrive, flourish’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvigeō1‘thrive, flourish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvigor1‘vigor, liveliness, activity’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vigour1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vigour1
- Englishearliest quotation 1667vigour1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English vigour
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, (please specify the page number): “But in the fruithful earth: there first receiv'd /…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvigeōWiktionary, English vigour‘thrive, flourish’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvigorWiktionary, English vigour‘vigor, liveliness, activity’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vigourWiktionary, English vigour
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vigourWiktionary, English vigour
- Englishearliest quotation 1667vigourWiktionary, English vigour. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, (please specify the page number): “But in the fruithful earth: there first receiv'd /…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weǵ- ‘to be lively’
wait, awake, surveillance, vegetation, vigilant, vigil, waken, reveille, waker, vajra, invigorate, 9 more
through Latin vigor ‘vigor, liveliness, activity’
Today it means
noun Active strength or force of body or mind; a capacity for exertion, physically, intellectually, or morally; energy.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “vigour”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin vigeō / vigour