different between strength vs vim

English

Etymology

From Middle English strengthe, from Old English strengþu (“strength”), from Proto-West Germanic *strangiþu (“strongness; strength”), equivalent to strong +? -th. Cognate with Dutch strengte (“strength”), German Low German Strengde, Strengte (“harshness; rigidity; strictness; severity”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /st???k?/, [st??????k?], [st?????n??]
  • (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): [st??????k?]
• Rhymes: -???, -?n?

Noun

strength (countable and uncountable, plural strengths)

1. The quality or degree of being strong.
   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5,^[1]

     Our castle’s strength will laugh a siege to scorn.

   Antonym: weakness

2. The intensity of a force or power; potency.
   • 1699, William Temple, Heads designed for an essay on conversations

     Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.

3. The strongest part of something; that on which confidence or reliance is based.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 46.1,^[2]

     God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

   • 1649, Jeremy Taylor, The Great Examplar of Sanctity and Holy Life according to the Christian Institution, London: Francis Ash, Part 1, Section 4, Discourse 2, p. 66,^[3]

     […] certainly there is not in the world a greater strength against temptations, then is deposited in an obedient understanding […] .

4. A positive attribute.

   Antonym: weakness

5. (obsolete) An armed force, a body of troops.
   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act IV, Scene 3,^[4]

     Thou princely leader of our English strength,

     Never so needful on the earth of France,

   • c. 1596, William Shakespeare, King John, Act II, Scene 1,^[5]

     That done, dissever your united strengths,

     And part your mingled colours once again;

6. (obsolete) A strong place; a stronghold.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 7, lines 140-143,^[6]

     All like himself rebellious, by whose aid

     This inaccessible high strength, the seat

     Of Deitie supream, us dispossest,

     He trusted to have seis’d […]

Synonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

strength (third-person singular simple present strengths, present participle strengthing, simple past and past participle strengthed)

1. (obsolete) To strengthen (all senses). [12th-17th c.]

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:strengthen

English

Etymology

Possibly from Latin vim, accusative singular of v?s (“force, power, strength; (New Latin) energy, force”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh?- (“to chase, pursue”); compare English vis); but perhaps a modern expressive formation.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /v?m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Noun

vim (uncountable)

1. Ready vitality and vigour. [from mid 19th c.]

   Synonyms: energy, go, pep, pizzazz, verve, zest

Derived terms

• vim and vigor
• vimless

Related terms

• vis
• violence
• violate

Translations

See also

• Thesaurus:enthusiasm

References

Further reading

• vim (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “vim”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• IVM, VMI

Latin

Noun

vim

1. accusative singular of v?s

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

vim

1. imperative of vima

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Portugal, Brazil) IPA^(key): /?v?/

Verb

vim

1. First-person singular (eu) preterite indicative of vir
2. (Brazil, proscribed) Alternative form of vir when used with auxiliary verbs