Wordwyrt

vial

/ˈvaɪəl/VIGH-uhl
/ˈvaɪəl/VIGH-uhl

Meaningshallow vessel

Common meaning: small bottle, especially for medicine

Journey through time

  1. Latinphiala‘shallow vessel’source
  2. Old Frenchmeaning shiftsshallow vessel → small bottlefiole‘small bottle’source
  3. Middle Englishviole‘small bottle’source
  4. Englishvial‘small bottle, especially for medicine’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin phiala ‘shallow vessel’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry VIAL, p. 685 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • phiala Latin “shallow vessel”

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