Vista

How to spell vista

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce vista

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does vista mean?

1. nounA pleasing or sweeping view, especially one seen through a long, narrow opening or into the distance.

Vista in a sentence

• The hotel room offered a stunning vista of the harbour.

• From the summit, hikers paused to admire the mountain vista.

Where does vista come from?

Language of origin: Italian

Vista came into English in the early 1600s straight from Italian, where vista meant 'sight' or 'view'. That Italian noun grew out of the verb vedere, 'to see', which itself descends from the Latin videre, also meaning 'to see'. The same Latin root sits quietly inside a whole family of familiar English words, including 'video', 'vision', 'visible' and 'evident', all of which carry the idea of seeing. When English borrowed vista it first described a long, framed view down an avenue of trees or between rows of buildings, the kind of carefully arranged outlook prized in formal Italian gardens. From that landscaping sense it broadened to mean any pleasing distant prospect, and later took on a figurative use for an imagined range of future possibilities. Because it kept its tidy Italian shape, the spelling is refreshingly regular: a single s, a single t, and the vowel pattern follows exactly how it sounds.

How the word is built

• vist- (from Italian vista: sight, view, from Latin videre: to see)
• -a (Italian noun ending)