English
envoy
Envoy comes from French envoyé ‘envoy, messenger’, from envoyer ‘send’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue, be strong’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to pursue, be strong’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā‘road’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvia‘road, path’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400enveier
- Frenchc. 1600–presentenvoyer‘send’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentenvoyé‘envoy, messenger’
- Englishearliest quotation 1887envoy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-‘to pursue, be strong’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂-reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā‘road’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvia‘road, path’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400enveier
- Frenchc. 1600–presentenvoyer‘send’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentenvoyé‘envoy, messenger’
- Englishearliest quotation 1887envoy
Earliest quotation: 1887, W. P. Groeneveldt, Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Malacca: “In the year 1460 the king Tu-ma-pan (Tumapel?)† sent…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue, be strong’
virtual, violent, violation, inevitable, virtue, violate, vengeance, vis, virtuous, avenge, vindication, virtuoso, wer, ochre, vim, venison, virile, virility, violator, virago, inviolable, 54 more
through Latin via ‘road, path’
via, previous, obvious, trivial, convey, trivia, deviation, voyage, deviant, viaduct, trivium, obviate, 14 more
Today it means
noun A diplomatic agent of the second rank, next in status after an ambassador.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- / envoy