vir
vi-r uital.-lat. “Mann, männlich”, vgl. ahdt. wer "Mann";
uig. *wiHrós "Mann", uital. *wiros, sanskr. vīrá, uger. *weraz, ahd. wer "Mann", mhd. Wehr, asächs. wer, apreuß. wijrs, aengl. engl. were-, wer, lith. vyras, latv. vīrs, air. fer, anord. verr, osti. ир, ir.
From Proto-Italic *wiros, from Proto-Indo-European *wiHrós. Cognates include Sanskrit वीर (vīrá), Old Prussian wijrs, Lithuanian vyras, Latvian vīrs, Old Irish fer, Old Norse verr, Ossetian ир (ir, “Ossetians”) and Old English wer (English were-).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /u̯ir/, [u̯ɪr]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /vir/, [vir]
Noun
vir m (genitive virī); second declension
- man (adult male human) [ quotations ▼]
- brave or courageous man, hero, warrior
- husband
- (military) foot soldier
Usage notes
Vir has the sense of adult male human being. In reference to age or maturity, it is used in opposition to puer (“boy”); in reference to gender or sex, it is used in opposition to or coordination with fēmina or mulier (“woman”). In the context of ancient Roman society, vir connoted a man of freeborn status rather than an enslaved man or freedman.[1] "Man" in the sense of "human being" is rendered by Latin homō (e.g., as opposed to bēstia (“beast”) or deus(“god”)); in the sense of male, by Latin mās (as opposed to fēmina (“female”)).
Declension
Second-declension noun (nominative singular in -r).
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | vir | virī |
| Genitive | virī | virōrum |
| Dative | virō | virīs |
| Accusative | virum | virōs |
| Ablative | virō | virīs |
| Vocative | vir | virī |
- The genitive plural may also be virum, virûm.