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The corpus record — Latin

vitium

vitium

defect, fault

Generated live from the audited Latin corpus — every figure on this page is a database query, not prose from memory.

Where it lives

Densest 12 of 176 attested works shown, by occurrences per 10,000 attested tokens.

What it meant

1. vitium — de Vaan

vitium 'defect, fault' [n. o] (Lex XII+) Derivatives: vitiare *to spoil, invalidate' (Ter.+), vitiosus 'faulty, defective' (PL+), vitiligo, -mis 'a form of skin eruption, psoriasis' (LuciL+), vituperate 'to declare invalid, find fault with' (P1.+). Pit *vwfto- 'deviation, fault'. PIE *(d)ui-tio- 'apart, wrong'. IE cognates: see s/v. duo. WH reconstruct a PIE adj4 *ui-ti-om * separation, deviation' to *(d)ui- … — [de Vaan, s.v. vitium, p. 698]

2. vĭtĭum — Lewis & Short

vĭtĭum, ii (

I gen. plur. vitiūm, Titin. ap. Non. p. 495, 13), n. from the same root with vieo, vitis, vitta; prop. a twist; hence, a fault, defect, blemish, imperfection, vice (syn. menda).
I Lit.: quomodo autem in corpore est morbus, est aegrotatio, est vitium: sic in animo. Morbum appellant totius corporis corruptionem: aegrotationem morbum cum imbecillitate: vitium, cum partes corporis inter se dissident; ex quo pravitas membrorum, distortio, deformitas. Itaque illa duo, morbus et aegrotatio, ex totius valetudinis corporis conquassatione et perturbatione gignuntur: vitium autem integrā valetudine ipsum ex se cernitur, Cic. Tusc. 4, 13, 29: corporis, Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 118; Ov. F. 4, 148: mancipii, Dig. 21, 1, 1, § 6: jumenti, ib. 21, 1, 38 init.—In buildings, a breach, defect: si nihil est in parietibus aut in tecto vitii, Cic. Fam. 9, 15, 5; cf.: si aedes corruerunt vitiumve fecerunt, have received damage, become damaged, id. Top. 3, 15.—In plants, a blemish, vice: sive illis (agris) omne per ignem Excoquitur vitium atque exsudat inutilis umor, Verg. G. 1, 88: vitio moriens sitit aëris herba, id. E. 7, 57.—In fruits, the useless part, the core: vitiumque cinctum fructu, Plin. 15, 28, 34, § 112.—
II Trop.
A In gen., a fault, defect, blemish: acutius atque acrius vitia in dicente quam recta videre, Cic. de Or. 1, 25, 116; cf. orationis, Quint. 1, 5, 1; 12, 1, 22: sermonis, id. 1, 1, 13: soloecismi, id. 1, 5, 53: ingenii, id. 10, 1, 60: mentis, id. 12, 1, 32: Stoicae sectae, id. 11, 1, 70: et illud mihi vitium'st maximum, my greatest fault, Ter. Hec. 1, 2, 37: huc si perveneris, meum vitium fuerit, my fault, Cic. Ac. 2, 16, 49: quamvis quis fortunae vitio, non suo decexisset, id. Phil. 2, 18, 44: honorem vitio civitatis, non suo, non sunt adsecuti, id. Har. Resp. 26, 56: male conjecta falsa sunt, non rerum vitio, sed interpretum inscientiā, id. Div. 1, 52, 118: animadverso vitio castrorum totā nocte munitiones proferunt, i. e. the faulty, unfavorable position (just before: natura iniquo loco castra ponunt), Caes. B. C. 1, 81: milites item conflictati et tempestatis et sentinae vitiis, the injurious effects, id. ib. 3, 28: sese nihil adhuc arbitrari vitio factum eorum, id. ib. 3, 57: vini vitio atque amoris feci, through the fault of, Plaut. Aul. 4, 10, 15.—
B In partic.
1 A moral fault, failing, error, offence, crime, vice (the predom. signif. of the word in prose and poetry; cf.: scelus, delictum): nullam quidem ob turpitudinem, nullum ob totius vitae non dicam vitium, sed erratum, Cic. Clu. 48, 133: legibus et praemia proposita sunt virtutibus et supplicia vitiis, id. de Or. 1, 58. 247: virtus est vitium fugere, Hor. ep. 1, 1, 41: senectus est naturā loquacior, ne ab omnibus eam vitiis videar vindicare, Cic. Sen. 16, 55: in vitio esse, id. Off. 1, 19, 62: ne sibi vitio verterent, quod abesset a patriā, reckon it a fault, id. Fam. 7, 6, 1: te laudem Sex. Roscio vitio et culpae dedisse, id. Rosc. Am. 16, 48; Matius ap. Cic. Fam. 11, 28, 2.—
b In respect of female chastity (whether of maidens or wives), a violation: quia pudicitiae hujus (Alcumenae) vitium me hic absente est additum, Plaut. Am. 2, 2, 179: pudicitiae ejus nunquam nec vim nec vitium attuli, id. Ep. 1, 2, 7: quoi misere per vim vitium obtulerat, Ter. Ad. 3, 2, 10; so, offerre, id. ib. 3, 1, 9: virginis, id. Eun. 4, 4, 55; cf.: vitium auctore redemit, Ov. H. 16 (17), 49.—
2 In relig. lang., a defect in the auspices or auguries: si cui servo aut ancillae dormienti evenit, quod comitia prohibere solet, ne id quidem mihi vitium facit, Cato ap. Fest. s. v. prohibere, p. 234 fin. Müll.; Ter. Hec. prol. 2; Liv. 8, 23, 16; 4, 7, 3: id igitur obvenit vitium, quod tu jam Cal. Jan. futurum esse provideras, Cic. Phil. 2, 33, 83: tabernaculum vitio captum, id. N. D. 2, 4, 11; cf.: vitio navigare, id. Div. 1, 16, 29: comitiorum solum vitium est fulmen, id. ib. 2, 18, 43.—
3 A fault of language: barbarismi ac soloecismi foeditas absit ... haec vitia, etc., Quint. 1, 5, 5.—
4 In coinage, t. t., base metal, alloy: in aurum vitii aliquid addere, Dig. 48, 10, 9 praef.; cf.: ignis vitium metallis Excoquit, Ov. F. 4, 785.

3. vitium — Walde–Hofmann

vitium, -i n. „Fehler, Gebrechen, Schaden an Körper und Dingen: dann auch geistig und sittlich* (seit XII tab., Plaut, Cato usw., rom.; vlt. auch „Leiden“, s. Svennung Wtst. 95), vitiösus, -a, -um „fehlerhaft, lasterhaft* (seit Plt, vitiósitás, -atis f. ,Lasterhaftigkeit" seit Cie.), vitio, -üri, -àtwn, -äre „verderbe, verletze, verfülsche* (seit Pit.; vgl. eitiator, -óris m. seit Sen., vitiGtio, -ünis f. seit Sen., … — [Walde–Hofmann, s.v. vitium, p. 1712]

In the wild

6 of 1,298 attestations shown.

Where it came from

  • de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) Treated in de Vaan, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Brill 2008) s.v. vitium (scan p. 698; entry #2005). Root candidates: *vwfto-, *wito-, *dui-.
  • Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch Treated in Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Worterbuch s.v. vitium (scan pp. 1712-1713; entry #3282). Root candidates: *ui-, *wanza-.

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Latin text and lemmatization derived from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit), CC BY-SA 4.0. Lewis & Short (public domain) via Perseus. This derived data is shared under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 license.