Vesuvius

English

Etymology

From Latin Vesuvius, of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /vəˈsu.vi.əs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Ve‧su‧vi‧us

Proper noun

Vesuvius

1. A volcanic mountain located on the Gulf of Naples in Italy.
   • 1928 February 25 – March 3, Arthur Conan Doyle, “When the World Screamed”, in The Professor Challenger Stories […], London: John Murray, […], published [1952], →OCLC, page 577:

     Hecla bellowed until the Icelanders feared a cataclysm. Vesuvius blew its head off.

Derived terms

• Vesuvian, vesuvin

Translations

volcano in Italy

• Arabic: فِيزُوف m (fizūf)
• Armenian: Վեզուվ (Vezuv)
• Bulgarian: Везу́вий m (Vezúvij)
• Catalan: Vesuvi m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 維蘇威火山／维苏威火山 (Wéisūwēi huǒshān)

• Czech: Vesuv
• Danish: Vesuv
• Dutch: Vesuvius
• Esperanto: Vezuvio
• Estonian: Vesuuv
• Finnish: Vesuvius
• French: Vésuve (fr) m
• Galician: Vesuvio m
• Georgian: ვეზუვი (vezuvi)
• German: Vesuv (de) m
• Greek: Βεζούβιος (el) m (Vezoúvios)
• Hungarian: Vezúv (hu)
• Irish: Veasúiv f
• Italian: Vesuvio m
• Japanese: ヴェスヴィオ (Vesuvio), ヴェスヴィオ火山 (Vesuvio-kazan), ベスビオ火山 (Besubio-kazan)
• Latin: Vesuvius m
• Latvian: Vezuvs m
• Lithuanian: Vezuvijus m
• Macedonian: Везув m (Vezuv)
• Norwegian: Vesuv
• Polish: Wezuwiusz (pl) m
• Portuguese: Vesúvio m
• Romanian: Vezuviu m
• Russian: Везу́вий (ru) m (Vezúvij)
• Spanish: Vesubio m
• Swedish: Vesuvius
• Turkish: Vezüv

Noun

Vesuvius (plural Vesuviuses)

1. A kind of firework supposed to resemble a volcano eruption.

Latin

Vesuvius Mons in Campania

Oswald Achenbach's Naples, Eruption of Vesuvius in 1872 (1890)

Alternative forms

• Vesēvus, Vesaevus (collateral forms)
• Vesvius, Vesbius (contracted collateral forms)

Etymology

Of uncertain origin; however, proposed derivations include:

• Latin vē- +‎ Ancient Greek σβέ(ννῡμι) (sbé(nnūmi), “I am quenched”, “I go out”)
• Oscan 𐌚𐌄𐌔𐌚 (fesf, “steam”, “smoke”)
• Proto-Celtic *ves (“mountain”)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯eˈsu.u̯i.us/, [u̯ɛˈs̠uː̯iʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /veˈsu.vi.us/, [veˈs̬uːvius]

Proper noun

Vesuvius m sg (genitive Vesuviī or Vesuvī); second declension

1. Vesuvius, a volcano in Campania

Declension

Second-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Vesuvius
Genitive	Vesuviī Vesuvī1
Dative	Vesuviō
Accusative	Vesuvium
Ablative	Vesuviō
Vocative	Vesuvī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• Vesuvīnus (“of, belonging to Vesuvius”, adjective)

Descendants

• → English: Vesuvius
• → Italian: Vesuvio
• → Portuguese: Vesúvio
• → Polish: Wezuwiusz
• → Russian: Везу́вий (Vezúvij)
  • → Armenian: Վեզուվ (Vezuv)
• → Romanian: Vezuviu
• → Sicilian: Visuviu
• → Spanish: Vesubio

See also

• Campānia

References

• “Vĕsŭvĭus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Vĕsŭvĭus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,668/1.