Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A useful thing that one constantly carries about.
- noun A book, such as a guidebook, for ready reference.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A book or other thing that a person carries with him as a constant companion; a pocket-companion; a manual; a handbook.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- A book or other thing that a person carries with him as a constant companion; a manual; a handbook.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A referential
book such as ahandbook ormanual . - noun A
useful object , constantly carried on one’s person.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a concise reference book providing specific information about a subject or location
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Latin vāde mēcum, go with me : vāde, sing. imperative of vādere, to go + mē : ablative sing. of egō, I + cum, with.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the Latin vāde ("go!, walk!"), the second-person singular present active imperative of vādō ("I go, I walk") + mēcum ("with me"), literally meaning "go with me!".
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word vade mecum.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
quotato commented on the word vade mecum
Latin "Go With Me"---a pocket handbook=vade mecum
December 7, 2007
mechanolatry commented on the word vade mecum
Latin -- go with me
1. A referential book such as a handbook or manual.
2. A useful object, constantly carried on one’s person.
January 29, 2009
jmjarmstrong commented on the word vade mecum
JM asks the question "Does facebook qualify as a vade mecum?"
February 5, 2009
TankHughes commented on the word vade mecum
I consider my laptop to be a modern vade mecum. http://tankhughes.com/?p=465
September 15, 2015