EmailDiscussions.com - View Single Post

communicant · 2 Jan 2019, 08:16 AM

It literally means "come with me" and is used to mean a guidebook that one carries in a pocket.

From the Merriam Webster dictionary (not quite right about the Latin, but close enough):

vade mecum noun
va·de me·cum | \ˌvā-dē-ˈmē-kəm, ˌvä-dē-ˈmā- \
*
1
: a book for ready reference : MANUAL
2
: something regularly carried about by a person

Vade mecum is Latin for go with me (it derives from the Latin verb vadere, meaning "to go.") In English, "vade mecum" has been used (since at least 1629) of manuals or guidebooks sufficiently compact to be carried in a deep pocket. But from the beginning, it has also been used for such constant companions as gold, medications, and memorized gems of wisdom.

Example of vade mecum in a Sentence

"By the time the last of its five massive volumes appeared, in 1959, the Sowerby catalog had become the vade mecum of Jefferson scholarship."
— Jorge Dionis, Town & Country, "Turn Up the Volumes," 6 Dec. 2013

First Known Use of vade mecum
1629, in the meaning defined at sense 1
History and Etymology for vade mecum
borrowed from Latin, "go with me"

2 Jan 2019, 08:16 AM	#13
communicant Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 879	Latin meaning of "vade mecum" It literally means "come with me" and is used to mean a guidebook that one carries in a pocket. From the Merriam Webster dictionary (not quite right about the Latin, but close enough): vade mecum noun va·de me·cum \| \ˌvā-dē-ˈmē-kəm, ˌvä-dē-ˈmā- \ * 1 : a book for ready reference : MANUAL 2 : something regularly carried about by a person Vade mecum is Latin for go with me (it derives from the Latin verb vadere, meaning "to go.") In English, "vade mecum" has been used (since at least 1629) of manuals or guidebooks sufficiently compact to be carried in a deep pocket. But from the beginning, it has also been used for such constant companions as gold, medications, and memorized gems of wisdom. Example of vade mecum in a Sentence "By the time the last of its five massive volumes appeared, in 1959, the Sowerby catalog had become the vade mecum of Jefferson scholarship." — Jorge Dionis, Town & Country, "Turn Up the Volumes," 6 Dec. 2013 First Known Use of vade mecum 1629, in the meaning defined at sense 1 History and Etymology for vade mecum borrowed from Latin, "go with me"