English
introvert
Introvert comes from Latin intrōvertere, from vertō ‘to turn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōas vertere‘to turn’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrōvertere
- Englishearliest quotation 1671introvert
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō‘to turn’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōas vertere‘to turn’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEintrōvertere
- Englishearliest quotation 1671introvert
Earliest quotation: 1671, Abraham Woodhead trans. The Life of the : “[…] the Soul being straight, introverted […] into itself,…”
The story
Popularized as a psychological term by the German works of Carl Jung.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, derision, wurst, deride, derisive, invert, extraversion, 56 more
through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
adverse, diversion, aversion, inverse, perverse, transverse, inversion, averse, perversion, reversion, 39 more
through Latin vertō ‘to turn’
university, version, conversation, divorce, diversity, versus, diverse, verse, vertical, versatile, advertisement, vortex, convertible, adversity, diversification, advert, divert, revert, pervert, vertex, vertigo, avert, vertebrate, subvert, verso, vertebra, evert, perversity, vertiginous, 48 more
Today it means
noun An organ or other body part that is or can be turned inside out, especially an anterior portion of some annelid worms capable of retraction.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / introvert