vitellus

English

Etymology

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

Noun

vitellus (countable and uncountable, plural vitelli or vitelluses)

(now rare, 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 […]
(botany) Perisperm in an early condition.
(botany) An oily substance adhering to the spores of Lycopodium.

Related terms

vitellophage

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 The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.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, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Latin

Etymology

From vitulus (“a bull calf”) +‎ -ulus (“diminutive suffix”). Compare porcellus.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [wɪˈtɛl.lʊs]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [viˈt̪ɛl.lus]

Noun

vitellus m (genitive vitellī); second declension

a small calf
the yolk of an egg
Synonym: vitellum

Coordinate terms: albūmen, albāmentum, albor, album

Declension

Second-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	vitellus	vitellī
genitive	vitellī	vitellōrum
dative	vitellō	vitellīs
accusative	vitellum	vitellōs
ablative	vitellō	vitellīs
vocative	vitelle	vitellī

Descendants

Insular Romance:
- Sardinian: biteddu, bitedhu, bitellu, vitellu
Balkano-Romance:
- Aromanian: yitsãl
- Istro-Romanian: viţe, viţelu
- Megleno-Romanian: vițǫl, vițal
- Romanian: vițel
Italo-Dalmatian:
- Corsican: vitellu
- Italian: vitello
  - → Piedmontese: vitel
- Neapolitan: vitiello, vetiello
- Sicilian: viteddu, vitieddu, vuteddu, vutiddu
- Venetan: vedeło, vedel
Rhaeto-Romance:
- Friulian: vidiel
- Romansch: vadè, vadel
Gallo-Italic::
- Emilian: vdèl, vedèl, vidèl
- Lombard: vedèl
  Ossolano: vèl
  - → Piedmontese: vidèl
- Piedmontese: vèil, vèl, ⇒ veilat
Northern Gallo-Romance:
- Franco-Provençal: vél, viô, viau, veûzh
  Valdôtain: véil, vil
- Old French: veel
  - French: veau
  - → English: veal
Southern Gallo-Romance:
- Catalan: vedell, videll
- Occitan:
  Auvergnat: vedèu
  
  Gascon: vedèth, vetèth
  
  Languedocien: vedèl, vodèl, vedèlh (meridional)
  
  Limousin: vdèl, vdèu, vedéil, vedèl
  
  Provençal: vedèu, vodèu
  
  Vivaro-Alpine: vèu, vèl, vedèu, vedèl, vió
Ibero-Romance:
- Aragonese: vetiello
  Belsetán: vetiecho
  
  Vió: vetiello
  
  Oriental: vediello
  Ribagorçan: vediell, vedell
Borrowings:
- → Portuguese: vitelo
- → Spanish: vitelo

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.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French vitellus or Latin vitellus.

Noun

vitellus n (uncountable)

perisperm

Declension

Declension of **vitellus**
singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	vitellus	vitellusul
genitive-dative	vitellus	vitellusului
vocative	vitellusule