Etymograph

English

inveterate

Inveterate comes from Latin inveterātus ‘of long standing, chronic’, from inveterō ‘give age or duration to something’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wet-‘year’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wétos‘year’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wetos‘year’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvetus‘old’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEveterō‘to age, make old’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinveterō‘give age or duration to something’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinveterātus‘of long standing, chronic’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1622inveterate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wet-‘year’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wétos‘year’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wetos‘year’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvetus‘old’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEveterō‘to age, make old’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinveterō‘give age or duration to something’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEinveterātus‘of long standing, chronic’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1622inveterate

Earliest quotation: 1622, Francis Bacon: “the vulgar conceived that now there was an end…”

Equivalent to in- ‘not, opposite’ + veterate

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’

Proto-Germanic *in ‘into’

English in-

Latin veterātus ‘old, made old’

English veterate

first attested The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1574; borrowed from Latin inveterātus (“of long standing, chronic”), perfect passive participle of inveterō and participial adjective (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (“in, into”) + veterō (“to age”), from vetus, veteris (“old”) (as stated in the etymology)

The story

The adjective is first attested in 1528, the verb in 1574; borrowed from Latin inveterātus (‘of long standing, chronic’), perfect passive participle of inveterō and participial adjective (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from in- (‘in, into’) + veterō (‘to age’), from vetus, veteris (‘old’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’

veal, wether, viol, 17 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wétos ‘year’

bacha, 9 more

through Latin vetus ‘old’

veteran, veterinary, veterinarian, 4 more

Today it means

adj Firmly established from having been around for a long time; of long standing.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wet- / inveterate

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