Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “vivacity” come from?

Vivacity derives from French vivacité, from Latin vivācitās (liveliness), built on vivus (alive) from Proto-Indo-European gʷeih₃w- (to live).

vivacity (English): The quality or state of being vivacious

Definitions

  1. The quality or state of being vivacious

Ancestry of “vivacity”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinvivacitasnatural vigor, vital force, vivaciousness,...
2Latinvīvāx—
3Latin-āx—
4Latin-iumSuffix used to form abstract nouns, sometimes...
5Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
6Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
7Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →