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Origin and history of vita

vita(n.)

plural vitae, Latin, literally "life" (from PIE root *gwei- "to live"). As "biography," by 1949. Vita Nuova "the New Life" was the title of Dante's work.

Entries linking to vita

vitamin(n.)

1920, originally vitamine (1912) coined by Polish biochemist Casimir Funk (1884-1967), from Latin vita "life" (see vita) + amine, because they were thought to contain amino acids. Related: Vitaminic.

The terminal -e formally was stripped off when scientists learned the true nature of the substance; -in was acceptable because it was used for neutral substances of undefined composition. The lettering system of nomenclature (Vitamin A, B, C, etc.) was introduced at the same time (1920).

*gwei-

also *gweie-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to live."

It might form all or part of: abiogenesis; aerobic; amphibian; anaerobic; azo-; azoic; azotemia; bio-; biography; biology; biome; bionics; biopsy; biota; biotic; cenobite; Cenozoic; convivial; couch (n.2) "grass;" epizoic; epizoon; epizootic; macrobiotic; Mesozoic; microbe; Protozoa; protozoic; quick; quicken; quicksand; quicksilver; quiver (v.) "to tremble;" revive; survive; symbiosis; viable; viand; viper; vita; vital; vitamin; victuals; viva; vivace; vivacious; vivarium; vivid; vivify; viviparous; vivisection; whiskey; wyvern; zodiac; Zoe; zoetrope; zoic; zoo-; zoolatry; zoology; zoon; zoophilia; zoophobia; zooplankton.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit jivah "alive, living;" Old Persian *jivaka- "alive," Middle Persian zhiwak "alive;" Greek bios "one's life, course or way of living, lifetime," zōē "animal life, organic life;" Old English cwic, cwicu "living, alive;" Latin vivus "living, alive," vita "life;" Old Church Slavonic zivo "to live;" Lithuanian gyvas "living, alive," gyvata "(eternal) life;" Old Irish bethu "life," bith "age;" Welsh byd "world."

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    vitamin
    1920, originally vitamine (1912) coined by Polish biochemist Casimir Funk (1884-1967), from Latin vita "life" (from PIE root...
    wit
    ascertain, learn," from Proto-Germanic *witanan "to have seen," hence "to know" (source also of Old Saxon witan, Old Norse vita...
    apologia
    Newman's "Apologia pro Vita Sua" (1864)....
    redemption
    mid-14c., redemcioun, "deliverance from sin," from Old French redemcion (12c.) and directly from Latin redemptionem (nominative redemptio) "a buying back or off, a releasing, a ransoming" (also "bribery"), noun of action from past-participle stem of redimere "to redeem, buy back,
    crusade
    "military expedition under the banner of the cross," 1706, a respelling or replacement of croisade (1570s), from French croisade (16c.), Spanish cruzada, both from Medieval Latin cruciata, past participle of cruciare "to mark with a cross," from Latin crux (genitive crucis) "cros
    conquer
    c. 1200, cunquearen, "to achieve" (a task), from Old French conquerre "conquer, defeat, vanquish," from Vulgar Latin *conquaerere (for Latin conquirere) "to search for, procure by effort, win," from assimilated form of Latin com-, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see com-), + qu
    pretty
    Middle English pratie "cunning, crafty, clever" (c. 1300 as a surname), from Old English prættig (West Saxon), pretti (Kentish), *prettig (Mercian) "cunning, skillful, artful, wily, astute," from prætt, *prett "a trick, wile, craft," from Proto-Germanic *pratt- (source also of Ol
    pupil
    [student], late 14c., "orphan child, ward, person under the care of a guardian," from Old French pupille (14c.) and directly from Latin pupillus (fem. pupilla) "orphan child, ward, minor," diminutive of pupus "boy" (fem. pupa "girl"), probably related to puer "child" (and thus pr
    substitution
    late 14c., substitucion, "appointment of a subordinate or successor" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French substitucion, substitution or directly from Late Latin substitutionem (nominative substitutio) "a putting in place of (another)," noun of action from past-participle stem
    contrast
    1690s, "to set in opposition with a view to show the differences; to stand in opposition or contrast; to set off (each other) by contrast," from French contraster (Old French contrester), modified by or from Italian contrastare "stand out against, strive, contend," from Vulgar La

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