vigour
English
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman vigour, from Old French vigor, from Latin vigor, from vigeo (“thrive, flourish”), from Proto-Indo-European.
Related to vigil, and more distantly compare vis and vital, from similar Proto-Indo-European roots and meanings (lively, power, life), via Latin.
Noun
vigour (countable and uncountable; plural vigours)
- Active strength or force of body or mind; capacity for exertion, physically, intellectually, or morally; force; energy.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden:
- The vigor of this arm was never vain.
- (Can we date this quote?) John Dryden:
- (biology) Strength or force in animal or force in animal or vegetable nature or action; as, a plant grows with vigor.
- Strength; efficacy; potency.
- 1667, (Can we find and add a quotation of John Milton to this entry?):
- But in the fruithful earth […] His beams, unactive else, their vigor find.
- 1667, (Can we find and add a quotation of John Milton to this entry?):
Usage notes
Vigor and its derivatives commonly imply active strength, or the power of action and exertion, in distinction from passive strength, or strength to endure.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
active strength or force of body or mind; capacity for exertion, physically, intellectually, or morally; force; energy
strength or force in animal or force in animal or vegetable nature or action; as, a plant grows with vigor
strength; efficacy; potency
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Old French
Noun
vigour m (oblique plural vigours, nominative singular vigours, nominative plural vigour)
- Alternative form of vigur.