Vatican City

US, UK/ˈvæ.tɪ.kən ˈsɪt.i/

proper noun

A city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. Official name: Vatican City State.

Similar
Vatican
OriginItalian Città del Vaticano ← Latin Cīvitās Vāticāna →
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Meanings

proper nounVatican City or the Vatican City
  1. A city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. Official name: Vatican City State.

    The advisory mentions “travel to the Vatican City,” but did not specify if he would meet with the pope.

    2024 May 6, Dana Rubinstein, William K. Rashbaum, “Mayor [Eric] Adams to Meet With Pope Francis in Rome”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 May 2024
    2 more examples

    “The new State, which will be known as the Vatican City, has a tiny territory,” the Pope [Pius XI] said, “but it is the greatest in the world because it contains Bernig’s^([sic]) colonnades, Michelangelo’s dome, treasures of art in the Vatican library, museums and galleries, and because, above all, it contains the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. No more precious territory exists.”

    1929 February 12, Arnaldo Cortesi, “Pope’s Sovereignty Is Restored by Italo-Vatican Compact”, in The New York Times, volume LXXVIII, number 25,952, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Aug 2025, page 2, column 2

    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

Synonyms & antonyms

proper nounA city-state in Southern Europe, an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. Official name: Vatican City State.

Similar
Vatican
Also see
vatican

Origin

  1. LatinCīvitās Vāticāna“Vatican City”
  2. ItalianCittà del Vaticano
  3. EnglishVatican City

A calque of Italian Città del Vaticano, from Latin Cīvitās Vāticāna (“Vatican City”), referring to the Vatican hill, whose further etymology is unknown.

More words from Italian, Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans Vatikaanstad, Vatikaan
  • Vatikaanstadstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikaanstate — see also Vatican
Arabic الْفَاتِيكَان f or مَدِينَةُ الْفَاتِيكَان
  • الْفَاتِيكَان f or مَدِينَةُ الْفَاتِيكَان (al-fatikān)state — see also Vatican
Bengali ভ্যাটিকান সিটি, ভ্যাটিকান
  • ভ্যাটিকান সিটি (bhêṭikan śiṭi)state — see also Vatican
  • ভ্যাটিকান (bhêṭikan)state — see also Vatican
Bulgarian Ватика́на
  • Ватика́на (Vatikána)state — see also Vatican
Catalan Ciutat del Vaticà, el Vaticà
  • Ciutat del Vaticàstate — see also Vatican
  • el Vaticàstate — see also Vatican
Chinese Mandarin 梵蒂岡 /梵蒂冈, 梵蒂岡城國 /梵蒂冈城国
  • 梵蒂岡 /梵蒂冈 (Fàndìgāng)state — see also Vatican
  • 梵蒂岡城國 /梵蒂冈城国 (Fàndìgāng chéngguó)state — see also Vatican
  • 梵蒂岡城 /梵蒂冈城 (Fàndìgāng chéng)state — see also Vatican
Czech Vatikán
  • Vatikánstate — see also Vatican
Danish Vatikanstaten, Vatikanet
  • Vatikanstatenstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikanetstate — see also Vatican
Dutch Vaticaanstad, het Vaticaan
  • Vaticaanstadstate — see also Vatican
  • het Vaticaanstate — see also Vatican
Esperanto Vatikano
  • Vatikanostate — see also Vatican
Estonian Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican
Finnish Vatikaani, Vatikaanivaltio
  • Vatikaanistate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikaanivaltiostate — see also Vatican
French Vatican, Cité du Vatican
  • Vaticanstate — see also Vatican
  • Cité du Vaticanstate — see also Vatican
German Vatikanstadt, Vatikan
  • Vatikanstadtstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican
Greek Βατικανό
  • Βατικανό (Vatikanó)state — see also Vatican
Hebrew קִרְיַת הָוָתִיקָן, הָוָתִיקָן
  • קִרְיַת הָוָתִיקָן (kiryát ha-vatikán)state — see also Vatican
  • הָוָתִיקָן (ha-vatikán)state — see also Vatican
Hindi वेटिकन सिटी, वेटिकन
  • वेटिकन सिटी (veṭikan siṭī)state — see also Vatican
  • वेटिकन (veṭikan)state — see also Vatican
Hungarian Vatikán, Vatikánváros
  • Vatikánstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikánvárosstate — see also Vatican
Icelandic Vatíkanborg, Vatíkanið
  • Vatíkanborgstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatíkaniðstate — see also Vatican
  • Páfagarðurstate — see also Vatican
Indonesian Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican
Irish Cathair na Vatacáine
  • Cathair na Vatacáinestate — see also Vatican
Italian Città del Vaticano
  • Città del Vaticanostate — see also Vatican
Japanese バチカン, バチカン市国
  • バチカン (Bachikan)state — see also Vatican
  • バチカン市国 (Bachikan Shikoku)state — see also Vatican
  • 法王庁 (Hōōchō)state — see also Vatican
Korean 바티칸, 바티칸 시국
  • 바티칸 (Batikan)state — see also Vatican
  • 바티칸 시국 (Batikan siguk)state — see also Vatican
  • 바띠까노 (Battikkano)state — see also Vatican
Latin Civitas Vaticana
  • Civitas Vaticanastate — see also Vatican
Latvian Vatikāns
  • Vatikānsstate — see also Vatican
Lithuanian Vatikanas
  • Vatikanasstate — see also Vatican
Malay Kota Vatikan, Vatikan
  • Kota Vatikanstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican
Norwegian Bokmål Vatikanstaten, Vatikanet
  • Vatikanstatenstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikanetstate — see also Vatican
Persian واتیکان
  • واتیکان (vâtikân)state — see also Vatican
Polish Watykan
  • Watykanstate — see also Vatican
Portuguese Cidade do Vaticano, Vaticano
  • Cidade do Vaticanostate — see also Vatican
  • Vaticanostate — see also Vatican
Romanian Vatican, Sfântul Scaun
  • Vaticanstate — see also Vatican
  • Sfântul Scaunstate — see also Vatican
  • Statul Cetății Vaticanuluistate — see also Vatican
Russian Ватика́н
  • Ватика́н (Vatikán)state — see also Vatican
Scottish Gaelic Cathair na Bhatacain
  • Cathair na Bhatacainstate — see also Vatican
Slovak Vatikán
  • Vatikánstate — see also Vatican
Spanish el Vaticano, Ciudad del Vaticano
  • el Vaticanostate — see also Vatican
  • Ciudad del Vaticanostate — see also Vatican
Swahili Vatikani
  • Vatikanistate — see also Vatican
Swedish Vatikanstaten, Vatikanen
  • Vatikanstatenstate — see also Vatican
  • Vatikanenstate — see also Vatican
Tagalog Lungsod Batikano, Batikano
  • Lungsod Batikanostate — see also Vatican
  • Batikanostate — see also Vatican
Thai วาติกัน, นครรัฐวาติกัน
  • วาติกัน (waa-dtì-gan)state — see also Vatican
  • นครรัฐวาติกัน (ná-kɔɔn waa-dtì-gan)state — see also Vatican
Turkish Vatikan
  • Vatikanstate — see also Vatican
Ukrainian Ватика́н
  • Ватика́н (Vatykán)state — see also Vatican
Urdu ویٹیکن سٹی, ویٹیکن
  • ویٹیکن سٹی (vēṭikan siṭī)state — see also Vatican
  • ویٹیکن (vēṭikan)state — see also Vatican
Vietnamese Thành Va-ti-căng, Va-ti-căng
  • Thành Va-ti-căngstate — see also Vatican
  • Va-ti-căngstate — see also Vatican
  • Thành Quốc Vaticanstate — see also Vatican
  • Thành Vaticanstate — see also Vatican
Welsh Dinas y Fatican
  • Dinas y Faticanstate — see also Vatican
Yiddish וואַטיקאַן
  • וואַטיקאַן (vatikan)state — see also Vatican

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with Vatican City

citycommitteekittyvaliditypitywittygrittybittypittynittydittyittytwittyprofunditybittieBoulder CityCenter Citycentral cityChristmas Citycontrol cityFarmer Cityflittyfree citygitty
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

Vatican City. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vatican%20City

MLA

“Vatican City.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vatican%20City. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Vatican City,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vatican%20City.

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