English
vital
Vital comes from Middle English vital, from Old French vital, from Latin vītālis ‘of life’, from vīta ‘life’, from vīvō ‘to live’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvō1‘to live’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīta1‘life’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvītālis1‘of life’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vital1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vital1
- Englishearliest quotation 1590vital1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English vital
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto I: “And doen the heavens afford him vitall food?”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvōWiktionary, English vital‘to live’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvītaWiktionary, English vital‘life’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvītālisWiktionary, English vital‘of life’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vitalWiktionary, English vital
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vitalWiktionary, English vital
- Englishearliest quotation 1590vitalWiktionary, English vital. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto I: “And doen the heavens afford him vitall food?”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’
biology, kidney, hygiene, revive, zodiac, anaerobic, quicken, quicksilver, quickness, biogenesis, wyvern, 58 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós ‘alive, living’
through Latin vīvō ‘to live’
vivid, vivacious, convivial, vivacity, 13 more
through Latin vīta ‘life’
Today it means
adj Relating to or characteristic of life.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “vital”. 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 vīvō / vital