Viva
nounAn oral examination, especially the spoken defence of a thesis or dissertation.
How to spell viva
4 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce viva
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does viva mean?
- nounAn oral examination, especially the spoken defence of a thesis or dissertation.
Viva in a sentence
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She spent three weeks preparing for her doctoral viva.
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The external examiner chaired the viva and questioned every chapter.
Where does viva come from?
Language of origin: Latin
This short word traces back to the Latin verb vivere, meaning simply 'to live'. As an exclamation, viva entered English in the 1600s by way of Italian and Spanish, where 'viva' is a cheer meaning roughly 'may he or she live', shouted to wish long life and success to a person or cause. The academic sense is a separate development: it is a clipping of the Latin phrase viva voce, literally 'with the living voice', which described an examination conducted by speech rather than in writing. British universities adopted viva as a noun for the spoken defence of a thesis, and the full phrase viva voce survives in formal contexts. Both meanings share the same living root, which is a useful way to remember the simple spelling: just the live-giving 'viv' plus a final 'a'.
How the word is built
- viv- (from Latin vivere: to live)
- -a
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