English
divorce
Divorce comes from Old French divorce, from Latin dīvortium ‘separation’, from dīvertō ‘to turn aside’, ultimately from PIE *wert- ‘to turn’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōas vertere‘to turn’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvertō‘to turn aside’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvortium‘separation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400divorce
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599divorce
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōas vertere‘to turn’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvertō‘to turn aside’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvortium‘separation’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400divorce
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599divorce
Earliest quotation: c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V: “To make divorce of their incorporate league”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
word, worth, weird, universe, ridiculous, ridicule, derision, invert, deride, wurst, derisive, extraversion, 55 more
through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
adverse, diverse, inverse, transverse, inversion, aversion, perverse, diversion, averse, divert, vertebrate, subvert, introvert, perversion, vertebra, reversion, evert, vertiginous, 38 more
through Latin vertō ‘to turn’
university, version, conversation, versus, verse, vertical, diversity, advertisement, versatile, convertible, advert, adversity, revert, pervert, vertex, vertigo, avert, vortex, vert, diversification, verso, perversity, 55 more
Today it means
noun The legal dissolution of a marriage.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / divorce