Etymograph

English

divel

Divel comes from Latin dīvellō ‘to rend’, from vellō ‘to pull or tear down’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- ‘to hit, to strike’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₃-‘to hit, to strike’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wl̥néh₃tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welnō‘to pull, tear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellō‘to pull or tear down’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvellōas dīvellere‘to rend’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1650divel

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₃-‘to hit, to strike’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wl̥néh₃tireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welnō‘to pull, tear’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellō‘to pull or tear down’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvellōas dīvellere‘to rend’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1650divel

Earliest quotation: 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […]: “[eyelids] may be eaſily divelled or parted aſunder”.

Linked words

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

vulnerable, invulnerability, 20 more

through Latin vellō ‘to pull or tear down’

pull, convulsion, convulsive, 7 more

Today it means

verb To rend apart.

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

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

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