vitellus

English

Etymology

Latin vitellus (“the yolk of an egg”). Doublet of veal.

Noun

vitellus (countable and uncountable, plural vitelli or vitelluses)

  1. (biology) The contents or substance of the ovum; egg yolk.
    • 1861, F. Rymer Jones, The General Structure of the Animal Kingdom (page 48)
      In the sarcodo there takes place a process which may be in some measure compared with what occurs in the vitellus after the fecundation of an ovum. The granules becoming united together form groups, which soon divide and subdivide […]
  2. (botany) Perisperm in an early condition.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for vitellus in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

Latin

Etymology

Diminutive of vitulus (“a bull calf”).

Pronunciation
  • (Classical) IPA(key): /wiˈtel.lus/, [wɪˈtɛl.lʊs]

Noun

vitellus m (genitive vitellī); second declension

  1. a small calf
  2. the yolk of an egg

Inflection

Second declension.

Case Singular Plural
Nominative vitellus vitellī
Genitive vitellī vitellōrum
Dative vitellō vitellīs
Accusative vitellum vitellōs
Ablative vitellō vitellīs
Vocative vitelle vitellī

Synonyms

Descendants
  • Aromanian: yitsãl
  • Catalan: vedell
  • Corsican: vitellu
  • Friulian: vidiel
  • Istro-Romanian: viţe, viţelu
  • Italian: vitello
  • Neapolitan: vitiello
  • Megleno-Romanian: vițål
  • Occitan: vedèl
  • Old French: veel
  • Portuguese: vitelo
  • Romanian: vițel
  • Romansch: vadè, vadel
  • Sardinian: biteddu, bitedhu, bitellu, vitellu
  • Sicilian: viteddu, vuteddu, vutiddu

References
  • vitellus in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • vitellus in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • vitellus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
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