vi et armis

adverb

By force, violently; specifically, causing damage to a person or property.

OriginLatin vi →
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Meanings

adverbvi et armis (not comparable)
  1. not comparableBy force, violently; specifically, causing damage to a person or property.

    It was current in the nursery that he was a black man who expelled us vi et armis.

    1873, Charlotte Mary Yonge, The Pillars of the House
    2 more examples

    Crabtree […] was so much incensed at his breach of punctuality, that he ordered him to be denied; and when the young gentleman forced his entrance into his chamber, vi & armis, would not open his mouth; but assuming the most grim contraction of his countenance, sat in sullen silence […].

    1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC

    The young barrister had brought a couple of dogs with him; and the country gentleman […] laughed aloud at the two miserable curs, one of which had followed Robert Audley through Chancery Lane, and half the length of Holborn; while his companion had been taken by the barrister vi et armis from a coster-monger who was ill-using him.

    1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret

Origin

  1. Latinvi
  2. Englishvi et armis

From Latin vi et armis (“with force and arms”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

“vi et armis.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vi%20et%20armis. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

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

Source: vi et armis on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.