VICTUAL, food, provisions, most commonly in the plural, " victuals." The word and its pronunciation came into English from the O. Fr. vitaille. The modern French and English spelling are due to a pedantic approximation to the Latin original, victualia, a neuter plural substantive formed from victualis, victus, nourishment, provisions (vivere, to live). The most familiar use of the term is in " licensed victualler," to which the Licensing Act 1872 (§ 27) has applied the wide significance of any person selling any intoxicating liquor under a licence from a justice of the peace. Properly a " victualling house " is one where persons are provided with food and drink but not lodgings, and is thus distinct from an inn, which also provides the last.