pervigilium

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin pervigilium.

Noun

pervigilium (uncountable)

  1. (obsolete, medicine, rare) Insomnia.
    • 1733, John Allen, Synopsis medicinæ: or, a summary view of the whole practice of physick:
      A Pervigilium is sometimes a primary Distemper, without any other evident Sickness causing it; yet so that some bear up under it, without any considerable Disorder []
    • 1843, W. L. MacGregor, Practical Observations on the Principal Diseases Affecting the Health of the European and Native Soldiers in the North-western Provinces of India, page 44:
      Pervigilium, or want of sleep, is a most distressing and alarming symptom in fever, and appears to be the first link of that chain which includes delirium, coma, and effusion [] there is nothing more indicative of the severity of the disease than the inability to sleep.

Latin

Etymology

pervigil (always watchful) + -ium

Pronunciation

Noun

pervigilium n (genitive pervigiliī or pervigilī); second declension

  1. staying awake or sitting up all night
  2. devotional watching, vigil

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Case Singular Plural
Nominative pervigilium pervigilia
Genitive pervigiliī
pervigilī1
pervigiliōrum
Dative pervigiliō pervigiliīs
Accusative pervigilium pervigilia
Ablative pervigiliō pervigiliīs
Vocative pervigilium pervigilia

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

References

  • pervigilium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • pervigilium”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • pervigilium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
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