English
devolution
Devolution comes from Latin devolvo ‘to roll or tumble off or down’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn, wind, round’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn, wind, round’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvō‘roll’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdevolvo‘to roll or tumble off or down’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500devolutio
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dévolution
- Englishearliest quotation 1981devolution
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-‘to turn, wind, round’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvō‘roll’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdevolvo‘to roll or tumble off or down’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500devolutio
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600dévolution
- Englishearliest quotation 1981devolution
Earliest quotation: 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology: “He is the place where the devolution from Heaven…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn, wind, round’
well, walk, wall, valve, vulgar, waltz, helix, divulge, vagrant, wale, gauche, vulgate, iliac, ilium, valvular, valise, 74 more
through Proto-Italic *wolwō
revolve, convolutional, 42 more
through Latin volvō ‘roll’
volume, involve, vault, revolution, evolve, revolt, vulva, voluminous, convoluted, voluble, convolution, involution, 44 more
Today it means
noun A rolling down.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welH- / devolution