# vultus
## Latin
### Alternative forms

* voltus, vultum, voltum

### Etymology

From earlier voltus (the standard spelling into the 1st century CE) with regular /ol → ul/ before consonants, from Proto-Italic *woltus, from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to see”), probably e-grade with regular /el → ol/.
Cognate to Welsh gweld, Tocharian B yel- (“to examine”) and Gothic 𐍅𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌿𐍃 (wulþus, “glory”) (from zero-grade).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈu̯ul.tus/, [ˈu̯ʊɫ̪t̪ʊs̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈvul.tus/, [ˈvul̪t̪us]

### Noun

vultus m (genitive vultūs); fourth declension
* a facial expression, look, countenance
    Synonyms: ōs, faciēs
** 405 CE, Jerome, Vulgate Proverbs 27:23:dīligenter agnōsce vultum pecoris tuī tuōsque gregēs cōnsīderāTranslation by Douay-Rheims BibleBe diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks
** the expression appropriate to a type of person or situation; a visage, mien, demeanor
* (anatomy, often in the plural) the front of the head, face
    Synonyms: frōns, ōs
* the face as involved in looking; the view, gaze
    Synonym: aspectus
* the distinctive appearance, looks, features
    Synonym: speciēs
** (of beings and things) the outward appearance, face, aspect
*** 8 CE, Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.5–7:Ante mare et terrās et quod tegit omnia caelum ūnus erat tōtō nātūrae vultus in orbe, quem dīxēre chaos: […] Before the sea and the lands and the sky that covers over all things, there was one face of nature in the whole world, which they called chaos: […]

#### Declension

Fourth-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | vultus | vultūs |
| Genitive | vultūs | vultuum |
| Dative | vultuī | vultibus |
| Accusative | vultum | vultūs |
| Ablative | vultū | vultibus |
| Vocative | vultus | vultūs |
A rare or archaic plural by-form is also attested:
Second-declension noun (neuter), plural only.
| Case | Plural |
| Nominative | vulta |
| Genitive | vultōrum |
| Dative | vultīs |
| Accusative | vulta |
| Ablative | vultīs |
| Vocative | vulta |

#### Descendants

* Galician: vulto
* Italian: volto
* Old French: volt
* Old Occitan: volt
** Occitan: vòlt
* Portuguese: vulto
* Spanish: bulto

#### See also

* cara

### References

* “uultus” on page 2340 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (2nd ed., 2012)
* Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 1136
* ↑ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 688-9

### Further reading

* “vultus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* vultus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* vultus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1698.
* vultus in Georges, Karl Ernst, Georges, Heinrich (1913–1918) Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th edition, volume 2, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, column 3565
* Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎, London: Macmillan and Co. his eyes are always fixed on some one's face: oculi in vultu alicuius habitant to dissemble, disguise one's feelings: vultum fingere a feigned expression: vultus ficti simulatique to put on a stern air: vultum componere ad severitatem to keep one's countenance, remain impassive: vultum non mutare