vilitas

Vilitas is a Latin noun of feminine gender used to express low value or moral baseness. In classical texts it covers both economic sense, such as cheapness or inferiority of goods, and moral sense, referring to ignobility of character or conduct. The word is formed from vilis, meaning cheap or worthless, with the abstract suffix -tas.

Form and usage: Vilitas, vilitatis is declined as a standard third-declension feminine noun. It commonly appears in phrases such as vilitas animi, indicating baseness of the mind, and vilitas morum, indicating baseness of manners. In this way, it functions in ethical and social discourse to mark a negative evaluation of character or quality.

Historical context: In Roman writers from the late Republic onward, vilitas is used to condemn lack of virtue or integrity, often in contrast with virtus (virtue) or honestas (honesty). It also appears in discussions of value and merit in material goods, where low quality or devalued objects are described as having vilitas.

Modern usage: Vilitas remains of interest primarily to scholars of Latin language and literature. It appears in dictionaries and grammars as a term illustrating moral and economic vocabulary in Latin, and it is encountered in philological studies of moral philosophy and rhetorical style in antiquity.

See also: vilis, virtus, honestas, moral philosophy in Latin literature.