Etymograph

English

avulse

Avulse comes from Latin avulsus ‘torn off or away’, from vellō ‘to pull or tear down’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- ‘to hit, strike’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₃-‘to hit, strike’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welnō‘to pull, tear’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellō‘to pull or tear down’next step skipped: Latin āvellō
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEavulsus‘torn off or away’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1997avulse

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₃-‘to hit, strike’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welnō‘to pull, tear’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellō‘to pull or tear down’next step skipped: Latin āvellō
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEavulsus‘torn off or away’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1997avulse

Earliest quotation: 1997, chapter 7: “An alternative is to avulse the nail of the…”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- ‘to hit, strike’

vulnerable, invulnerability, 20 more

through Latin vellō ‘to pull or tear down’

pull, convulsive, convulsion, 7 more

Today it means

verb To tear off forcibly.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- / avulse

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