vitality
         n 1: an energetic style [syn: {vitality}, {verve}]
         2: a healthy capacity for vigorous activity; "jogging works off
            my excess energy"; "he seemed full of vim and vigor" [syn:
            {energy}, {vim}, {vitality}]
         3: (biology) a hypothetical force (not physical or chemical)
            once thought by Henri Bergson to cause the evolution and
            development of organisms [syn: {life force}, {vital force},
            {vitality}, {elan vital}]
         4: the property of being able to survive and grow; "the vitality
            of a seed" [syn: {animation}, {vitality}]

English Dictionary: vitality	by the DICT Development Group
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Vital \Vi"tal\, a. [F., fr. L. vitalis, fr. vita life; akin to       vivere to live. See {Vivid}.]       1. Belonging or relating to life, either animal or vegetable;             as, vital energies; vital functions; vital actions.          2. Contributing to life; necessary to, or supporting, life;             as, vital blood.                         Do the heavens afford him vital food? --Spenser.                         And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth.                                                                               --Milton.          3. Containing life; living. [bd]Spirits that live throughout,             vital in every part.[b8] --Milton.          4. Being the seat of life; being that on which life depends;             mortal.                         The dart flew on, and pierced a vital part. --Pope.          5. Very necessary; highly important; essential.                         A competence is vital to content.      --Young.          6. Capable of living; in a state to live; viable. [R.]                         Pythagoras and Hippocrates . . . affirm the birth of                      the seventh month to be vital.            --Sir T.                                                                               Browne.          {Vital air}, oxygen gas; -- so called because essential to             animal life. [Obs.]          {Vital capacity} (Physiol.), the breathing capacity of the             lungs; -- expressed by the number of cubic inches of air             which can be forcibly exhaled after a full inspiration.          {Vital force}. (Biol.) See under {Force}. The vital forces,             according to Cope, are nerve force (neurism), growth force             (bathmism), and thought force (phrenism), all under the             direction and control of the vital principle. Apart from             the phenomena of consciousness, vital actions no longer             need to be considered as of a mysterious and unfathomable             character, nor vital force as anything other than a form             of physical energy derived from, and convertible into,             other well-known forces of nature.          {Vital functions} (Physiol.), those functions or actions of             the body on which life is directly dependent, as the             circulation of the blood, digestion, etc.          {Vital principle}, an immaterial force, to which the             functions peculiar to living beings are ascribed.          {Vital statistics}, statistics respecting the duration of             life, and the circumstances affecting its duration.          {Vital tripod}. (Physiol.) See under {Tripod}.          {Vital vessels} (Bot.), a name for latex tubes, now disused.             See {Latex}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Tripod \Tri"pod\, n. [L. tripus, -odis, Gr. [?]; [?] (see       {Tri-}) + [?], [?], foot. See {Foot}, and cf. {Tripos},       {Trivet}.]       1. Any utensil or vessel, as a stool, table, altar, caldron,             etc., supported on three feet.          Note: On such, a stool, in the temple of Apollo at Delphi,                the Pythian priestess sat while giving responses to                those consulting the Delphic oracle.          2. A three-legged frame or stand, usually jointed at top, for             supporting a theodolite, compass, telescope, camera, or             other instrument.          {Tripod of life}, [or] {Vital tripod} (Physiol.), the three             organs, the heart, lungs, and brain; -- so called because             their united action is necessary to the maintenance of             life.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Vitality \Vi*tal"i*ty\ (?; 277), n. [L. vitalitas: cf. F.       vitalit[82].]       The quality or state of being vital; the principle of life;       vital force; animation; as, the vitality of eggs or vegetable       seeds; the vitality of an enterprise.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Vitilitigate \Vit`i*lit"i*gate\, v. i. [L. vitilitigare to       quarrel disgracefully; vitium vice + litigare to quarrel.]       To contend in law litigiously or cavilously. [Obs.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Vitilitigation \Vit`i*lit`i*ga"tion\, n.       Cavilous litigation; cavillation. [Obs.] --Hudibras.