Coat of Arms of Lithuania - Origins of The Word Vytis

Origins of The Word Vytis

It is unknown for certain what Lithuania's coat or arms was initially called; Edmundas Rimša asserts that a Middle Polish word Pogonia was applied to it for the first time only in the 16th century. The earliest known name of the Coat of Arms in Lithuanian is a 17th century translation of Pogonia by Konstantinas Sirvydas as Waikimas ("Vaikymas" in the modern Lithuanian orthography), which was used until the 19th century together with Pagaunia.

The origins of the Lithuanian proper noun Vytis are not clear either. At the dawn of the Lithuanian National Revival, Simonas Daukantas employed the term wytis referring to the "rider" for the first time in his historical piece Budą Senowęs Lietuwiû kalneniu ir Żemaitiû published in 1846. The etymology of this particular name is not universally accepted; it is either a direct translation of the Polish Pogoń, a common noun constructed from the Lithuanian verb vyti ("to chase"), or least likely a derivative from the East Slavic title of the knight - vytiaz'. The first presumption raised by linguist Pranas Skardžius in 1937 is challenged by some since Pogoń does not actually mean "chasing (knight)". In support of the second proposal, the Lithuanian language has words with a stem -vyt in such personal names as Vytenis, furthermore, vytis has a structure common to words constructed from verbs.

In 1884, Mikalojus Akelaitis coined the name Vytis to the coat of arms in Lithuanian in the newspaper Auszra. This name came to popular use and was eventually legitimized and became official in the independent Republic of Lithuania.

In the Russophone world and East Slavic culture there is a similar word Vityaz which means a brave knight or a bold hero. According to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary that word has derived from the Old Germanic Witing.