Etymograph

English

pave

Pave comes from Old French paver ‘to pave, to cover’, from Vulgar Latin *pavāre ‘to beat down, to smash’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘to strike, hit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-‘to strike, hit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaviōas pavīre‘to beat, strike, ram, tread down’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pavāre‘to beat down, to smash’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paver‘to pave, to cover’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1970pave

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-‘to strike, hit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaviōas pavīre‘to beat, strike, ram, tread down’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pavāre‘to beat down, to smash’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paver‘to pave, to cover’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1970pave

Earliest quotation: 1970, Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi: “They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘to strike, hit’

few, poor, fewer, pose, puppy, pupil, puppet, pause, pediatrics, filly, pedagogy, orthopedics, menopausal, puerile, paucity, posada, pupa, 31 more

Today it means

verb To cover something with paving slabs.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- / pave

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