Vestige

Noun 1. A remaining trace of something that once existed. 2. The smallest amount.
From the Latin vestigium - footprint

The return of the same chicken wiped all vestiges of humour from the blog.

This excellent word has been knocking around my head for days now so I figured it wanted to go on the list. It begins with V, it is seriously classy and it comes from Latin (which surprised me because it sounds French). What more could you want? Unlike other good words which can be used liberally like black pepper, I might suggest that this word should be used rather more sparingly like chilli flakes: too much and you overpower your text (or pizza) but used at the right time and in the right amount it will bring a wonderful piquancy (brilliant word) to any essay (or pizza).