Etymograph

English

deviation

Deviation comes from Latin dēviō ‘to deviate’, from viā ‘off the road’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue, be strong’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to pursue, be strong’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā‘road’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviā‘off the road’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēviō‘to deviate’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500deviatio
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600deviation
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1938same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to pursue, be strong’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂-reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā‘road’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviā‘off the road’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēviō‘to deviate’
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500deviatio
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600deviation
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1938same form

Earliest quotation: 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent: “A rough place, my last district; sixty navvies on…”

Formed from deviate + -ion

Late Latin dēviātus ‘strayed, deviated, detoured’

English deviate

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue, be strong’

virtual, violent, inevitable, virtue, vengeance, violation, avenge, violate, vis, virtuous, wer, virtuoso, venison, ochre, vim, virile, virility, vindication, inviolable, virago, violator, 55 more

through Latin viā ‘off the road’

via, previous, obvious, voyage, convey, envoy, trivial, trivia, viaduct, trivium, obviate, 15 more

Today it means

noun The act of deviating; wandering off the correct or true path or road.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- / deviation

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