English
levirate
Levirate comes from Latin lēvir ‘husband's brother, brother-in-law’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dayh₂wḗr.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dayh₂wḗr‘one's brother-in-law’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēvir‘husband's brother, brother-in-law’
- Englishearliest quotation 1894levirate
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dayh₂wḗr‘one's brother-in-law’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElēvir‘husband's brother, brother-in-law’
- Englishearliest quotation 1894levirate
Earliest quotation: 1894, Edward Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage: “And it is, he says, impossible not to believe…”
Formed from lēvir ‘husband's brother, brother-in-law’ + -ate
Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *dayh₂wḗr
Today it means
adj Having to do with one's husband's brother.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dayh₂wḗr / levirate