vim

Etymology

Possibly from Latin vim, accusative singular of vīs (“force, power, strength; (New Latin) energy, force”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- (“to chase, pursue”); compare English vis); but perhaps a modern expressive formation.

noun

1. Ready vitality and vigour.
   But he was, doubtless, totally unconscious that he was to be the chief personage in this most important story, or he would have acted out his real nature with all the vim and pathos which heroes always manifest in like circumstances. 1843 August, “The Woodsman [Concluded.]”, in The Yale Literary Magazine:[…], volume VIII, number 9, New Haven, Conn.: Published by the editors; printed by Hitchcock and Stafford, →OCLC, page 406
   The Yankees fought with pluck to the last, but the vigor and vim of the attack was too much for them. They were Michigan men, and were quite indignant at being called "Yankees." 1864, “Personne” [pseudonym; Felix Gregory DeFontaine], “A Spirited Dash into the Enemy’s Lines”, in Marginalia; or, Gleanings from an Army Note-book, Columbia, S.C.: Steam power-press of F. G. DeFontaine & Co., →OCLC, page 42
   Larry is not good at a slow tune, or chune as he calls it, but he comes out strong in "jigs, strathspeys, and reels," and he "whacked off" "Tullochgorum," "Killiecrankie," and the "Braes o' Tullymet and Mar," not to mention "Garryowen" and the "Pradhestan Bhoys," and "Saint Pathrick's Day" and "Boyne Water," with inconceivable vim and vigour. 4 January 1865, James Brown, quoting Thomas Davidson, “The Probationer”, in The Life of a Scottish Probationer. Being a Memoir of Thomas Davidson, with His Poems and Extracts from His Letters, Glasgow: James MacLehose, published 1877, →OCLC; 2nd revised and enlarged edition, Glasgow: James MacLehose,[…], 1878, →OCLC, page 108
   Ignoring then, as I do, the idea that has found a lodgment in the minds and taken possession of the judgment of large numbers of the Profession that man has physically degenerated; that his physical powers of resistance and endurance, his energy, vigor, and vim have declined; … 21 April 1875, C. B. Nottingham, “Art. II.—Bloodletting.[…]”, in E. S. Gaillard, editor, The Richmond and Louisville Medical Journal, volume XXI, number 4, Louisville, Ky.: E. S. Gaillard; Medical Journal Book and Job Steam Printing House,[…], published April 1876, →OCLC, page 335
   Even this remote corner of China shows the influence of the new movement, and Western ideas are making their way. Something had been done to improve the city schools, and I can testify to the desire of the military force stationed at Ning-yüan to form itself on European models, for the morning's sleep was broken by the vigorous bugle practice of the band, and at every turn one met soldiers, marching along with a good deal of vim. 1913, Elizabeth [Kimball] Kendall, “The Chien-Ch’ang”, in A Wayfarer in China: Impressions of a Trip across West China and Mongolia, Boston, Mass., New York, N.Y.: Houghton Mifflin Company[…], →OCLC, page 82
   But the youth of today were a pasty lot, with none of the get-up-and-go, none of the vigor and vim that he remembered from the days when he was young … 1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, New York, N.Y.: Spike; 1st Perennial edition, New York, N.Y.: Perennial, 2001, page 58