No, this word, which is hardly current (only three of the 922 dictionaries to which alphadictionary.com provides access list an entry), and which one is most likely to hear on an obstetric/neonatal ward, does not mean what you think it does ! But inspired by wordsmith's A.Word.A.Day, I thought I'd suggest it as GWotD, despite the possibilities for misunderstanding....
Henri
vagitus (vuh-JI-tuhs) noun
The cry of a newborn.
[From Latin vagire (to wail).]
vagitus
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- Grand Panjandrum
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vagitus
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?
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- Grand Panjandrum
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- Grand Panjandrum
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Garzanti provides a definition of the Italian verb «vagire» similar to the one for the English noun above, but interestingly enough a second definition as well, which is metaphorical and refers not to the wailing but to the time at which it takes place :
Henriv. intr. [io vagisco, tu vagisci ecc. ; aus. avere]
1 piangere, detto di neonati
2 (fig. lett.) essere agli inizi, ai primordi, detto di un'arte, una civiltà e sim.
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?
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- Dr. Goodword
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I love vagitus
I love words that wakeup the dirty-minded only to turn out to be positively antiseptic. There is little in dictionaries (other than medical dictionaries) on the word, so if you know of any cognates in other languages, like the Portuguese and Italian ones already mentioned, I would be obliged.
• The Good Dr. Goodword
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"Wasn't Tanto the Lone Ranger's Faithful Indian Companion?"La ringrazio tanto, Signor Henri, non n'ero proprio conscio.but interestingly enough a second definition as well, which is metaphorical and refers not to the wailing but to the time at which it takes place :
Brazilian dude
"Ah, no, that was Tonto, Kemosabe."
"Oh."
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
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"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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- Grand Panjandrum
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Spanish: vagido
s.m. Voz o llanto característicos del recién nacido
ETIMOLOGÍA: Del latín vagitus, y este de vagire (gritar, lanzar un vagido).
ORTOGRAFÍA: Dist. de vahído.
http://clave.librosvivos.net/
French: Vagir - Pousser de faibles cris. Vagissant, ante - Qui vagit. Vagissement n.m. - Cri de l'enfant nouveau-né; Cri plaintif et faible (de quelques animaux)
Le Robert Micro Poche
Catalan: vagit
[s. XX; del ll. vagitus 'crit, crit de dolor']
m Gemec, plor, de l'infant acabat de néixer.
http://www.grec.net/cgibin/lexicx.pgm?GECART=0140144
Brazilian dude
s.m. Voz o llanto característicos del recién nacido
ETIMOLOGÍA: Del latín vagitus, y este de vagire (gritar, lanzar un vagido).
ORTOGRAFÍA: Dist. de vahído.
http://clave.librosvivos.net/
French: Vagir - Pousser de faibles cris. Vagissant, ante - Qui vagit. Vagissement n.m. - Cri de l'enfant nouveau-né; Cri plaintif et faible (de quelques animaux)
Le Robert Micro Poche
Catalan: vagit
[s. XX; del ll. vagitus 'crit, crit de dolor']
m Gemec, plor, de l'infant acabat de néixer.
http://www.grec.net/cgibin/lexicx.pgm?GECART=0140144
Brazilian dude
Languages rule!
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