Word of the Day

: November 22, 2007

victual

noun VIT-ul

What It Means

1 : food usable by people

2 : supplies of food : provisions

victual in Context

The small grocery on the corner sells meat, bread, fruit, and other victuals at prices that rival those of the big supermarkets.

Did You Know?

If you're hungry for the story behind "victual," get ready to dig into a rich and fulfilling history. The word derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin noun "victus," meaning "nourishment" or "way of living." "Victus" derives from the verb "vivere," which means "to live" and which is the source of a whole smorgasbord of other English words like "vital," "vivid," and "survive." It's also the root of "viand," another English word referring to food. There's also "vittles," a word that sounds like it might be an alteration of the plural "victuals" but which actually entered English a century before "victual."

*Indicates the sense illustrated by the example sentence.