English
devastate
Devastate comes from Latin dēvastātus ‘devastated’, from vāstus ‘Empty, unoccupied, i.e. waste, desert’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weh₂-‘empty, wasted’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(h₁)weh₂-stosreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wāstosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvāstus‘Empty, unoccupied, i.e. waste, desert’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvāstō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvastō‘to lay waste, devastate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvastātus‘devastated’perfect passive participle of dēvastō
- Englishearliest quotation 2022devastate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weh₂-‘empty, wasted’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*(h₁)weh₂-stosreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wāstosreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvāstus‘Empty, unoccupied, i.e. waste, desert’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvāstō
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvastō‘to lay waste, devastate’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvastātus‘devastated’perfect passive participle of dēvastō
- Englishearliest quotation 2022devastate
Earliest quotation: 2022, Bruce Healey, Wartime tunnel crash: a miraculous escape: “Halifax in Canada was devastated by a ship exploding…”
first attested First attested in 1638 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1638.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘empty, wasted’
want, various, variety, waste, vacation, vary, void, variable, vacant, vanity, vain, vanish, waning, evacuate, wane, vacate, vacuous, varicella, evanescent, 25 more
through Latin vāstus ‘Empty, unoccupied, i.e. waste, desert’
Today it means
verb To ruin many or all things over a large area, such as most or all buildings of a city, or cities of a region, or trees of a forest.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- / devastate