victual · noun — food fit for human (or occasionally animal) consumption. It carries an Arena rating of 1583, earned across 26 head-to-head judged battles.
Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, victual ranks #1,251 of 17,147 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #2,792 of 17,197 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #4,294 of 17,187 for Most Malleable Words, #4,319 of 17,188 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
victual is pronounced /ˈvɪtəl/.
Why “victual” is a great word
VICTUAL — [Noun, Verb] Substantial food or provisions intended for basic sustenance; to victual is to supply such stores. From Middle English vitaile, from Anglo-Norman and Old French vitaile, vitaille, from Late Latin vīctuālia ("provisions"), neuter plural of vīctuālis ("nutritional"), from Latin vīctus ("nourishment, diet"), from vīvō ("to live"). Unlike "cuisine," which implies artful refinement, or "provision," a broad term for any supplied material, a victual is the raw, functional stuff of endurance. It is the hardtack and salt pork in a ship’s hold, the sack of potatoes and smoked hock in a root cellar, the casks of ale and dried peas loaded for a garrison siege—the humble, durable bulk that fuels the body’s persistence, a word as essential and unadorned as the nourishment it names.
❧ Essay by Lexicurio’s AI · definition, etymology & citations from published sources
Etymology
From Middle English vitaile, vitaylle (“food; food and drink, especially as needed for sustenance; (usually in the plural) food and drink stores or supplies; rations; provision of food and drink as a military stipend; crops”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vitaile, vitaille [and other forms] and Old French vitaile, vitaille, victaille (“food, provisions, victuals”) [and other forms] (modern French victuaille), from Late Latin vīctuālia, the neuter plural of vīctuālis (“nutritional”), from Latin vīctus (“that which sustains life, diet, nourishment, provision”) + -ālis (suffix forming adjectives of relationship from nouns). Vīctus is derived from vīvō (“to live; to be alive, survive; to reside in”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- (“to live”)) + -tus (suffix formi
noun
- Food fit for human (or occasionally animal) consumption.e.g.“Shift bore (for il aire) as best ye do thinke, / and twise a day giue him fresh vittle and drinke: […]” — 1878, Thomas Tusser, “Septembers Husbandrie”, in Five Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie. […], London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC; republished as W[illiam]
- Food supplies; provisions.
- Edible plants.
- Grain of any kind.e.g.“But if the beast and branks be spar'd / Till kye be gaun without the herd, / An' a' the vittel in the yard, / An' theckit right, / I mean your ingle-side to guard / Ae winter night.” — 1785 September 13, Robert Burns, “Epistles in Verse. To J. Lapraik.”, in R[obert] H[artley] Cromek, compiler, Reliques of Robert Burns; Consisting Chiefly of Original Letters, Poems, and Critical Obse
verb
- To provide (military troops, a place, a ship, etc., or oneself) with a stock of victuals or food; to provision.e.g.“[T]hy louing voyage / Is but for two moneths victuall’d: […]” — c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, publ
- To lay in or procure food supplies.
- To eat.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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