vigorous, a.
(ˈvɪgərəs)
Forms: 4, 7 vigrous, 5 vygerous, 5–6 vigerous-, 7–9 poet. vig'rous; 5–6 vygorous (5 vygorowse, 6 -ouse; 5 Sc. wygorous-), 4– vigorous (5 vigorows-, Sc. wigorus-); 4, 6–7 vigourous.
[a. AF. vigrus, vigerous, vigorouse, OF. vigorous, vigourous, vigoros, etc. (mod.F. vigoureux), = Pr. vigoros, Sp., Pg., It. vigoroso, med.L. vigorōsus (Diefenbach): see vigour n. and -ous.]
1. Of persons or animals: Strong and active in body; endowed with or possessed of physical strength and energy; robust in health or constitution; hardy, lusty, strong.
App. not in common use during the 15th and 16th cent.
| 13.. K. Alis. 6923 (Laud MS.), We habbeþ many pryuee foo, Þat..willen fonde to greuen vs, Bot þou þee make vigourous! c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 9060 (Kölbing), Herui, þat was vigrous & liȝt, On þe scheld him hit a dint hard. c 1400 tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 57 Euer ordeyn þi þoughtes in goodnesse; ȝeld þy seluyn glorious & vygerous. c 1400 Promp. Parv. 510/1 Vygorowse, vigorosus, ferox. 1530 Palsgr. 328/1 Vygorouse, vigoreux, vigoreuse. 1611 Cotgr., Vigoureux, vigorous, lustie, liuely, strong. 1658 Phillips, Vigorous, full of vigour, i. strength, courage, lustinesse. a 1687 Waller Presage Ruin Turkish Emp. 20 Bred in the camp, fam'd for his valor young; At sea successful, vigorous, and strong. a 1721 Prior Dial. Locke & Montaigne Wks. 1907 II. 238 We commend a Horse for being Vigorous and Handsom. 1780 Harris Philol. Enq. Wks. (1841) 450, I have seen great geniuses miserably err..and, like vigorous travellers who lose their way, only wander the wider on account of their own strength. 1797 S. & Ht. Lee Canterb. T. (1799) I. 350 Vigorous in health and youth, to him the water had long been an element almost as familiar and as natural as air. 1844 Emerson Lect. New Eng. Ref. Wks. (Bohn) I. 268 Men are Conservatives when they are least vigorous, or when they are most luxurious. They are Conservatives after dinner, or before taking their rest; when they are sick, or aged. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §7. 428 At forty-five he was so vigorous that he made his way to Scotland on foot. 1892 Mivart Ess. & Crit. I. 161 The life of every healthy and vigorous animal consists mainly in the repetition of actions which have become habitual. |
b. So of the body or its parts, health, etc.
| 1618 J. Taylor (Water P.) Penniless Pilgr. A iiij b, Mithridate, that vigrous health preserues. 1652 ― Journ. Wales (1859) 8 He was more then 80 yeares of age, yet of a very able body, and vigorous constitution. 1683 Burnet tr. More's Utopia (1684) 131 Their Bodies are vigorous and lively. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4469/4 Thomas Scott,..round fac'd, little vigorous Eyes. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 363 The learned finger never need explore Thy vig'rous pulse. 1813 Shelley Q. Mab ix. 65 How vigorous then the athletic form of age! 1841 A. Combe Physiol. Digestion (ed. 3) 294 In twenty-five days the dog..was in the enjoyment of vigorous health and strength. 1870 Macduff Mem. Patmos xiv, The strong frame, the vigorous pulse, and undimmed eye. |
c. Of plants, etc.: Growing strongly and freely. Also of growth or vegetation.
| 1706 London & Wise Retir'd Gard. I. 109 Some Trees are weak, others strong and vigorous. 1748 Anson's Voy. i. v. 45 The vigorous vegetation which constantly takes place there. 1783 Crabbe Village ii. 119 The tall oak, whose vigorous branches form An ample shade. 1800 Med. Jrnl. IV. 237 My strongest and most vigorous plants grow in a bed or bank sloping to the south. 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 37 In general..the seeds produced by them [are] the largest and most vigorous of growth. 1881 T. Moore in Encycl. Brit. XII. 242/1 Near the base of the stem are two prominent buds, which would produce two vigorous shoots. |
d. Marked or characterized by, requiring or involving, physical strength or activity.
| 1697 Walsh Life Virgil ¶8 in Dryden Virgil, Which work took up seven of the most vigorous years of his life. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 260 ¶1 The Time of Youth and vigorous Manhood. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. xviii. 79 While He the vigorous Chace pursues. 1797 Burke Regic. Peace iii. (1892) 215, I mean..plentiful nourishment to vigorous labour. 1836 J. H. Newman in Lyra Apost. (1849) 237 The keenness of youth's vigorous day Thrills in each nerve and limb. 1837 Lockhart Scott I. ii. 77 His professional visits to Roxburghshire and Ettrick Forest were, in his vigorous life, very frequent. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxxi. 433 It requires the most vigorous efforts..to tear from the oak ribs..a single day's firewood. |
2. Full of, exhibiting, characterized by, vigour or active force; powerful, strong. a. Of natural agencies or phenomena, substances, etc. Now somewhat rare.
| (a) a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 57 b, He had sayled no great waye before that a vygorous tempest by reason of contrarietie of wyndes sodeynly arose. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 295 [They] tumbled downe..starke dead, being suffocated with the vigorous Sunne. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. xvi. 105 We apply'd a Load-stone moderately vigorous to the out-side of the Glass. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) II. 792/1 The air was dark and heavy, for want of that vigorous heat which clears and rarefies it. 1794 R. J. Sulivan View Nat. I. 209 At first they [sc. monsoons] are feeble, they afterwards become vigorous. 1909 A. Reid Regality of Kirriemuir xxiv. 315 Granted a more vigorous flow of water, the Northmuir need fear no local rival. |
| (b) a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 2 The fat of venison is conceived to be..of all flesh the most vigourous nourishment. 1691 Ray Coll. Words, Making Salt 209 A Rock of Natural Salt from which issues a vigorous sharp Brine. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 764 The too vig'rous Dose too fiercely wrought; And added Fury to the Strength it brought. 1728 Chambers Cycl., Elaterium is a vigorous Purge, and is used in Lethargies. 1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. I. 23 Of a more vigorous and high Spirit than the Hereford Cyder. 1802 M. Edgeworth Mor. T., Forester, a Printer, The fresh seeds,..scattered upon the vigorous soil, took root, and flourished. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vi. i, A pint of most vigorous and powerful wine. |
b. Of the soul, mind, etc.
| 1640 Walton Life Donne in D.'s Serm. C j, His mind was liberall, and unwearied in the search of knowledge, with which his vigorous soule is now satisfied. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xvii, His soul became stern and vigorous in despair. a 1800 in Southey Comm.-Pl. Bk. (1849) II. 41/1 Whilst they lay apparently senseless,..their minds were more vigorous..than they had ever been before. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 226 His [Bunyan's] vigorous understanding and his stout English heart. |
c. Of immaterial things, qualities, etc.
| 1634 Milton Comus 628 He..Would..shew me simples of a thousand names, Telling their strange and vigorous faculties. 1662 H. Hibbert Body Divinity ii. 105 All the ceremonies, services and sacrifices at that time..through Christ..were vigorous, and for his sake acceptable to God. 1675 J. Owen Indwelling Sin x. (1732) 121 Suggestions of the Law of Sin,..advantaged by any suitable or vigorous Temptation. 1709 Berkeley Th. Vision §3 At a near distance I have experienced [an object] to make a vigorous and large appearance. 1758 S. Hayward Serm. xvii. 518 Grace may not be always in the same lively exercise; sometimes it appears cool and indifferent, at other times vigorous and lively. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest ii, Whose hopes are, therefore, vigorous. 1837 Lockhart Scott I. x. 347 In her case sound sense as well as vigorous ability had unfortunately condescended to an absurd disguise. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 330 Where the opportunities of vigorous intellectual exercise were frequent. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 6 So vigorous and minutely penetrative was the quality of his understanding. |
d. Of language, etc.: Energetic, forcible, powerful.
| 1821 Scott Kenilw. xxxvi, Doth your new spirit of chivalry supply no more vigorous ejaculation, when a noble struggle is impending? 1837 Lockhart Scott IV. ii. 40 It contains many vigorous pictures, and splendid verses. 1864 Trevelyan Compet. Wallah (1866) 156 A copious fount of vigorous English. 1873 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. (1876) 43 A vigorous hymn was being sung. |
3. Of actions, measures, etc.: Characterized by, attended, carried out, or enforced with, vigour or energy.
Freq. connoting some degree of boldness or severity.
| 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. 81 They had so sharpe and vigorous answere, that there was not one mantellet that abode whole an houre. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §146 No Man could expect that the vigorous designs and enterprizes undertaken by the Duke, would be pursued with equal resolution and courage. 1679 E. Everard Prot. Princes Europe 12 [He] did also by his most vigorous Representations..cause his Imperial Majesty..to resolve to arm vigorously. 1702 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 81 The allies made a vigorous attaque on the counterscarpe of Keiserswart. 1769 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 182 Various matters have so dissipated me, as to hinder me from a vigorous pursuit of this object. 1777 Watson Philip II, xiii. (1812) II. 171 This measure..shewed how firmly determined the citizens were to make a vigorous defence. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India I. 33 The Nizam's troops being either unable or unwilling to suppress the insurrection, it became necessary to adopt more vigorous measures. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 556 If in a severe case [of simple meningitis] vigorous treatment is adopted at an early stage of the disease, recovery is by no means hopeless. |
b. Of persons, etc.: Acting, or prepared to act, with vigour.
| 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. II) 115 Having you on my side, and knowing you to be as vigorous a friend of mine, as I am [of you]. 1701 Penn in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. IX. 44 Be vigorous about my property matters. 1796 Burke Let. Noble Lord Wks. 1842 II. 258 To be commended by an able, vigorous, and well informed statesman. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) II. ix. 323 A vigorous government placed in circumstances of extreme peril. |
4. Comb., as vigorous-growing, vigorous-looking adjs.
| 1842 Loudon Suburban Hort. 37 When it is wished to have plants of a vigorous-growing species. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 269 A frank, stout, gray-haired, but vigorous-looking man. |