Etymograph

English

excavate

Excavate comes from Latin excavātus ‘hollowed out’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *kawos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavō‘to make hollow, hollow out, excavate’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcavō‘to hollow out’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcavātus‘hollowed out’perfect passive participle of excavō
  6. Englishtodayexcavate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavō‘to make hollow, hollow out, excavate’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcavō‘to hollow out’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcavātus‘hollowed out’perfect passive participle of excavō
  6. Englishtodayexcavate

first attested First attested in 1599 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1599, from Latin excavātus (‘hollowed out’), perfect passive participle of excavō (‘to hollow out’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ex (‘out’) + cavō (‘to hollow out, pierce’), from cavus (‘cave, hole’) + -ō (verb-forming suffix).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’

church, kirk, hound, cyst, cumulus, cajole, 38 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱowh₁ós

cavernous, 13 more

through Proto-Italic *kawos

cavern, concave, jailer, 14 more

through Latin cavus

jail, cage, cave, cavity, gaol, caul, cavil, 17 more

Another origin of excavate

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexcavātus‘excavated’
  2. Englishtodayexcavate

Today it means

verb To make a hole in (something); to hollow.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *kawos / excavate

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