English
vague
Vague comes from Latin vagus ‘uncertain, vague’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvagus‘uncertain, vague’literally ‘wandering, rambling, strolling’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600vague
- Englishearliest quotation 1577same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvagus‘uncertain, vague’literally ‘wandering, rambling, strolling’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600vague
- Englishearliest quotation 1577same form
Earliest quotation: 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England: “[T]he Scots had some leasure to plaie their vagues”.
Linked words
through Latin vagus ‘uncertain, vague’
Today it means
adj Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin vagus / vague