Etymograph

English

divisible

Divisible comes from Latin divido ‘to divide, separate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weydʰh₁-‘to divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiðōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*vidō‘to separate’reconstructed
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdivido‘to divide, separate’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdivisibilis
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500divisible
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1661same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weydʰh₁-‘to divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiðōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*vidō‘to separate’reconstructed
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdivido‘to divide, separate’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdivisibilis
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500divisible
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1661same form

Earliest quotation: 1661, Joseph Glanvill, London: […] E. C[otes] for Henry Eversden […]: “The compoſition of Bodies, whether it be of Diviſibles…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- ‘to divide’

wide, wood, widow, fid, 12 more

through Latin *vidō ‘to separate’

dividend, 8 more

through Latin divido ‘to divide, separate’

individual, device, divide, devise, 7 more

Today it means

adj Capable of being divided or split.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- / divisible

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