Etymograph

English

haruspex

Haruspex comes from Latin haruspex ‘diviner who reads from the intestines of…’, from Proto-Indo-European *spóḱs ‘watcher’, and ultimately from *speḱ- ‘to see, look’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-‘to see, look’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*spóḱs‘watcher’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*speks‘one who looks at something’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*haru-speksreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEharuspex‘diviner who reads from the intestines of sacrificial animals’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1603same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*speḱ-‘to see, look’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*spóḱs‘watcher’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*speks‘one who looks at something’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*haru-speksreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEharuspex‘diviner who reads from the intestines of sacrificial animals’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1603same form

Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “If it be lawfull for Panæcius to maintaine his…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- ‘to see, look’

special, despite, specific, respect, species, perspective, scope, aspect, spy, inspector, inspection, spite, spectrum, spice, expectation, speculation, skeptical, suspicion, spectacular, specify, specimen, espionage, spectacle, inspect, speculative, retrospective, spectator, speculate, conspicuous, retrospect, skeptic, specter, endoscopic, macroscopic, expectant, spectroscopic, circumspect, speculator, espy, specious, 118 more

Today it means

noun A soothsayer or priest in Ancient Rome (originally Etruscan) who practiced haruspicy, divination by inspecting entrails.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- / haruspex

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