English
equivoque
Equivoque comes from Late Latin aequivocus ‘ambiguous, equivocal’.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaequivocus‘ambiguous, equivocal’
- Englishearliest quotation 1751equivoque
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaequivocus‘ambiguous, equivocal’
- Englishearliest quotation 1751equivoque
Earliest quotation: 1751, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […]: “[H]e sported in many other æquivoques of the same…”
A compound of aequus ‘equal’ + vocō ‘call’
Proto-Italic *aikʷos
Old Latin aiquos
Latin aequus ‘equal’
Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak’
Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs ‘speech, voice’
Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’
Latin vōx ‘voice, speech’
Latin vocō ‘call’
Every English word from Late Latin aequivocus
Today it means
adj Equivocal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin aequivocus / equivoque