vade mecum
- noun
- /ˈveɪdi ˈmiːkəm/
- Formal
:
vade mecum
- He referred to the travel guide as his vade mecum while exploring the city to find the best restaurants.
Examples
-
Major-General Torquil Matheson distributed to his Guards Division a vade mecum, Notes for Company Officers on Fighting Machine Gun Rearguards, originally written by Lord Gort for his battalion.
Academic text (2010) -
The Scriptures provided few topographical descriptions of sites, yet the Bible became the vade mecum for pilgrims from the fourth century.
Academic text (2007) -
That vade mecum has been a useful first port of call for generations of students.
Academic text (2007) -
I make Edward sound like a walking vade mecum, which, true enough, in part he was.
Academic text (1995) -
Seekers of alternative foodstuffs have embraced "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" by Euell Gibbons as their vade mecum.
Academic text (1991) -
For example, in Rousseau's Emile - perhaps the philosophic naturalist's vade mecum - it eventually becomes clear that, although a sauvage, Emile is a savage who must live in a city.
Academic text (2002) -
The teacher always kept her vade mecum handy to provide students with quick references during class.
-
As a dedicated chef, she carried a vade mecum of cooking techniques and recipes wherever she went.
Synonyms
249
1.0
A book that gives simple instructions and basic information
56
3.1
A short book with useful information and instructions about a subject or place
40
1.9
A small book with information or instructions on a topic
33
2.1
A book that gives information and advice about a place or activity
1
2.5
A small book of words you can carry in your pocket or bag
A small book that gives important information or instructions
How Handy
Surface Forms
Morphology
vade + mecum
This is a lexicalized Latin phrase whose components are not English words a B1 learner would recognize; the literal parts do not transparently combine to mean 'a small handbook'. Even if one knew the Latin roots ('vade' ≈ 'go', 'mecum' ≈ 'with me'), that literal sense does not predict the modern meaning, so the expression is idiomatic and not derivable from its parts.
Etymology
Vade mecum comes from Latin words vade and mecum, which together mean 'go with me'. It used to mean a small book people carried with them, so today it means a handy guide you keep to check quickly.