viaticum
Americannoun
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Ecclesiastical. the Eucharist or Communion as given to a person dying or in danger of death.
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(among the ancient Romans) a provision or allowance for traveling, originally of transportation and supplies, later of money, made to officials on public missions.
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money or necessities for any journey.
noun
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Christianity Holy Communion as administered to a person dying or in danger of death
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rare provisions or a travel allowance for a journey
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of viaticum
1555–65; < Latin viāticum, neuter of viāticus, equivalent to viāt ( us ) (past participle of viāre to travel; see via, -ate 1) + -icus -ic; cf. voyage
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The voice of the poet deepens steadily right up to his viaticum, delivered to the world at war: We live in a camp.
From Time Magazine Archive
On the 6th of December he fell ill; on the 8th, the President of St. John's College, in presence of the Fathers and Religious of the Society, administered the viaticum.
From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851 by Various
In this bed he once lay for weeks feigning mortal illness, and thus induced the priest to give him the viaticum.
From A Literary Pilgrimage Among the Haunts of Famous British Authors by Wolfe, Theodore F. (Theodore Frelinghuysen)
He is carrying the viaticum, or sacrament, to some dying person.
From The Dance of Death Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood with a Dissertation on the Several Representations of that Subject but More Particularly on Those Ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein by Douce, Francis
While he was receiving the confession of the royal penitent, the cardinal was hurrying to the chapel to get the viaticum for administering the communion, and the holy oil for the rite of extreme unction.
From Louis XIV. Makers of History Series by Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
