vives

V4I1V4E1S1

noun

A disease of animals, especially horses, based in the glands under the ear, where a tumour is formed which sometimes ends in suppuration.

OriginOld French vives ← French avives ← Arabic ذِئْبَة →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

nounvives (uncountable)
  1. obsoleteuncountableA disease of animals, especially horses, based in the glands under the ear, where a tumour is formed which sometimes ends in suppuration.

    The Vives, like the strangles, is most incident to young horses, and usually proceeds from the same causes, such as catching cold, being over-heated, or over-worked, about the time of shedding their teeth.

    1816, Richard Lawrence, The complete farrier, and British sportsman, page 245

Origin

  1. Arabicذِئْبَة
  2. Frenchavives
  3. Old Frenchvives
  4. Englishvives

From Old French vives, French avives (compare Spanish abivas), from Arabic ذِئْبَة (ḏiʔba, literally “she-wolf”).

More words from Old French, French, Arabic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

vives. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vives

MLA

“vives.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vives. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “vives,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/vives.

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