Etymograph

English

perversion

Perversion comes from Latin pervertō ‘to overthrow’, from vertō ‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetor‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervertō‘to overthrow’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEperversiōas perversiōnis
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500perversion
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1834perversion

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetor‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervertō‘to overthrow’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEperversiōas perversiōnis
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500perversion
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1834perversion

Earliest quotation: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “After all, the great error in human judgment is…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’

word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, invert, deride, derision, wurst, derisive, 59 more

through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’

adverse, inverse, transverse, averse, vertebra, evert, vertiginous, extraversion, 41 more

through Latin vertō ‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to…’

university, divorce, conversation, vertical, versus, diverse, diversity, advertisement, verse, vortex, versatile, convertible, advert, divert, revert, vertex, vertigo, adversity, avert, vertebrate, introvert, diversion, subvert, diversification, vert, inversion, aversion, verso, reversion, 48 more

Today it means

noun The action of perverting someone or something; humiliation; debasement.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / perversion

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