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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: moogester on Tuesday 31 January 12 15:45 GMT (UK)

Title: Meaning of vita?
Post by: moogester on Tuesday 31 January 12 15:45 GMT (UK)

Wonder if anyone knows what vita means?  I've been given a family pedigree going back to 1305, all of the entries before 1500 have vita before the date.  I don't want to add the names to my tree until I understand what the date signifies.

Title: Re: Meaning of vita?
Post by: Priscilla on Tuesday 31 January 12 16:08 GMT (UK)

Have Googled the word "vita" - it means life - so am guessing it was their way of writing "born" ... but am happy to be corrected!

Title: Re: Meaning of vita?
Post by: sstarr2008 on Tuesday 31 January 12 16:10 GMT (UK)

Life or living.

As in alive at that time, often meaning that the person in question was mentioned in some sort of document at that date.

Stu

Title: Re: Meaning of vita?
Post by: moogester on Tuesday 31 January 12 16:12 GMT (UK)

Thanks to both of you, I knew I'd get the answer on here  :)

Title: Re: Meaning of vita?
Post by: Suffolk Mawther on Tuesday 31 January 12 16:12 GMT (UK)

Most original documents going back to those dates would have been written in Latin - hence, vita with the explanation that Stu has given  :D

Pat ...