vidi

Vidi is the first person singular perfect active indicative form of the Latin verb videre, meaning to see. It translates as “I saw” or, in some contexts, “I have seen.” In classical Latin narrative, vidi is used to report a completed act of seeing.

Grammatical notes and usage. The verb’s principal parts are videre (infinitive), video (present indicative), vidi (perfect indicative), and visum (supine or perfect passive participle). In the perfect tense, vidi denotes a past completed seeing, with the subject usually supplied by context or an explicit pronoun. Example: “Vidi rosas in horto” means “I saw roses in the garden.”

Historical and cultural context. Vidi appears frequently in Latin literature and inscriptions as a straightforward past tense verb. It is well known in combination with other verbs in famous phrases such as the historic motto “Veni, vidi, vici” attributed to Julius Caesar, meaning “I came, I saw, I conquered.” The phrase is widely cited as an emblem of rapid, decisive action.

Related forms and cognates. As a member of the third-conjugation family, videre shares a root with related Romance languages, where present and past forms reflect the same Latin origin. Latin verbs like vidi are often studied to understand narrative past tenses and verb aspect in classical texts.