vade mecum

noun

va·​de me·​cum ˌvā-dē-ˈmē-kəm  ˌvä-dē-ˈmā- 

plural vade mecums

1

: a book for ready reference : manual

2

: something regularly carried about by a person

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Brush Up on Your Latin With Vade Mecum

Vade mecum (Latin for "go with me") has long been used of manuals or guidebooks sufficiently compact to be carried in a deep pocket, and it would sometimes appear in the title of such works, as with one of the earliest known uses of the phrase in the title of the 1629 volume Vade Mecum: A Manuall of Essayes Morrall, Theologicall. From the beginning, it has also been used for constant companions that are carried about by a person, such as gold, medications, and memorized gems of wisdom. But these days, vade mecum is primarily encountered in reference to works which are intended to serve as one-stop references or guides to a particular subject, whether or not such a work can actually be carried in one's pocket (a moot distinction, perhaps, in an age when such works can easily reside in a smartphone's memory).

Examples of vade mecum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By the time the last of its five massive volumes appeared, in 1959, the Sowerby catalog had become the vade mecum of Jefferson scholarship. —Jorge Dionis, Town & Country, 6 Dec. 2013

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin, "go with me"

First Known Use

1629, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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