Vatican

V4A1T1I1C3A1N1
UK, US/ˈvæ.tɪ.kən/

proper noun

The official residence of the Pope within Vatican City, the Vatican or Apostolic Palace.

Similar
Vatican City
OriginLatin Vātī̆cānus →
CommonScrabble 12
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Meanings

proper nounthe Vatican
  1. The official residence of the Pope within Vatican City, the Vatican or Apostolic Palace.
  2. metonymicallyThe papal government; the papacy, the Holy See.
  3. A city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy.

    Unlike most other countries in the world, citizenship in Vatican City isn’t solely provided to people that are born in the country. As there are no hospitals in the Vatican State, virtually no one is born in there. Instead, Vatican citizenship is provided on a ‘jus officii’ basis.

    2019 October 3, Ellen Curtin, “Everything You Wanted to Know about Vatican City”, in City Wonders, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2025

    Synonyms: Vatican City

  4. The Vatican Hill in Rome, where the palace and Vatican City are located.

    He [Caligula] began to build a circus upon the Vatican.

    1856, The Art of Building in Ancient and Modern Times […], volume 1, page 75
adjectiveVatican (not comparable)
  1. not comparableRelating to the Vatican City state.

    Unlike most other countries in the world, citizenship in Vatican City isn’t solely provided to people that are born in the country. As there are no hospitals in the Vatican State, virtually no one is born in there. Instead, Vatican citizenship is provided on a ‘jus officii’ basis.

    2019 October 3, Ellen Curtin, “Everything You Wanted to Know about Vatican City”, in City Wonders, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2025

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy.

Similar
Vatican City
Also see
vatican city

Origin

  1. LatinVātī̆cānus“Vatican Hill”
  2. EnglishVatican

Learned borrowing from Latin Vātī̆cānus (“Vatican Hill”), further etymology unknown. The connection to vāticinārī (“to prophesy, oracle”) is folk-etymological.

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Vatikaanstad, Vatikaan
  • Vatikaanstadstate — see also Vatican City
  • Vatikaanstate — see also Vatican City
  • VatikaansRelating to the Vatican City state
Arabic الْفَاتِيكَان, الْفَاتِيكَان
  • الْفَاتِيكَان (al-fatikān)state — see also Vatican City
  • الْفَاتِيكَان (al-vatikān)state — see also Vatican City
Bengali ভ্যাটিকান
  • ভ্যাটিকান (bhêṭikan)state — see also Vatican City
Bulgarian Ватика́на
  • Ватика́на (Vatikána)state — see also Vatican City
Catalan Vaticà, vaticà
  • Vaticàstate — see also Vatican City
  • vaticàRelating to the Vatican City state
Chinese Mandarin 梵蒂岡 /梵蒂冈
  • 梵蒂岡 /梵蒂冈 (Fàndìgāng)state — see also Vatican City
Czech Vatikán
  • Vatikánstate — see also Vatican City
Danish Vatikanet, Vatikanstaten
  • Vatikanetstate — see also Vatican City
  • Vatikanstatenstate — see also Vatican City
Dutch Vaticaan, Vaticaans
  • Vaticaanstate — see also Vatican City
  • VaticaansRelating to the Vatican City state
Esperanto Vatikano
  • Vatikanostate — see also Vatican City
Estonian Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican City
Finnish Vatikaani, vatikaanilainen
  • Vatikaanistate — see also Vatican City
  • vatikaanilainenRelating to the Vatican City state
French Vatican, vatican
  • Vaticanstate — see also Vatican City
  • vaticanRelating to the Vatican City state
German Vatikan, vatikanisch
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican City
  • vatikanischRelating to the Vatican City state
Greek Βατικανό
  • Βατικανό (Vatikanó)state — see also Vatican City
Hebrew הוַותִיקָן
  • הוַותִיקָן (vatikán)state — see also Vatican City
Hindi वेटिकन
  • वेटिकन (veṭikan)state — see also Vatican City
Hungarian Vatikán
  • Vatikánstate — see also Vatican City
Indonesian Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican City
Irish An Vatacáin, Vatacánach
  • An Vatacáinstate — see also Vatican City
  • VatacánachRelating to the Vatican City state
  • na VatacáineRelating to the Vatican City state
Italian Vaticano, vaticano
  • Vaticanostate — see also Vatican City
  • vaticanoRelating to the Vatican City state
Japanese バチカン
  • バチカン (Bachikan)state — see also Vatican City
Korean 바티칸, 바띠까노
  • 바티칸 (Batikan)state — see also Vatican City
  • 바띠까노 (Battikkano)state — see also Vatican City
Latin Vātī̆cānus
  • Vātī̆cānusstate — see also Vatican City
Latvian Vatikāns
  • Vatikānsstate — see also Vatican City
Lithuanian Vatikanas
  • Vatikanasstate — see also Vatican City
Malay Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican City
Māori Watikana, Whatikana
  • Watikanastate — see also Vatican City
  • Whatikanastate — see also Vatican City
Norwegian Bokmål Vatikanet, Vatikanstaten
  • Vatikanetstate — see also Vatican City
  • Vatikanstatenstate — see also Vatican City
  • vatikanskRelating to the Vatican City state
Polish Watykan, watykański
  • Watykanstate — see also Vatican City
  • watykańskiRelating to the Vatican City state
Portuguese Vaticano, vaticano
  • Vaticanostate — see also Vatican City
  • vaticanoRelating to the Vatican City state
Romanian Vatican, vatican
  • Vaticanstate — see also Vatican City
  • vaticanRelating to the Vatican City state
Russian Ватика́н, ватика́нский
  • Ватика́н (Vatikán)state — see also Vatican City
  • ватика́нский (vatikánskij)Relating to the Vatican City state
Slovak Vatikán
  • Vatikánstate — see also Vatican City
Spanish Vaticano, vaticano
  • Vaticanostate — see also Vatican City
  • vaticanoRelating to the Vatican City state
Swahili vatikani
  • vatikaniRelating to the Vatican City state
Swedish Vatikanstaten, vatikansk
  • Vatikanstatenstate — see also Vatican City
  • vatikanskRelating to the Vatican City state
Tagalog Batikano, batikano
  • Batikanostate — see also Vatican City
  • batikanoRelating to the Vatican City state
Thai วาติกัน
  • วาติกัน (waa-dtì-gan)state — see also Vatican City
Turkish Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican City
Ukrainian Ватика́н, вати́канський
  • Ватика́н (Vatykán)state — see also Vatican City
  • вати́канський (vatýkansʹkyj)Relating to the Vatican City state
Urdu ویٹِیکَن
  • ویٹِیکَن (veṭīkan)state — see also Vatican City
Vietnamese Va-ti-căng
  • Va-ti-căngstate — see also Vatican City
Yiddish וואַטיקאַן
  • וואַטיקאַן (vatikan)state — see also Vatican City

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Vacanti
Cite this entry
APA

Vatican. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vatican

MLA

“Vatican.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vatican. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Vatican,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vatican.

Source: Vatican on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.