English
pervert
Pervert comes from Old French pervertir ‘to lead astray’, from Latin pervertō ‘to overthrow’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’.
- 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 CEvertō‘to turn’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervertō‘to overthrow’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pervertir‘to lead astray’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1384pervert
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 CEvertō‘to turn’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervertō‘to overthrow’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pervertir‘to lead astray’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1384pervert
Earliest quotation: c. 1384, Thomas Usk: “After that worde, "better is it to dey than…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, derision, wurst, deride, invert, derisive, extraversion, 59 more
through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
adverse, diversion, inverse, transverse, inversion, aversion, averse, reversion, 42 more
through Latin vertō ‘to turn’
university, version, conversation, divorce, diversity, versus, diverse, verse, vertical, advertisement, versatile, vortex, convertible, adversity, diversification, advert, divert, revert, vertigo, vertex, vertebrate, introvert, avert, subvert, verso, vertebra, evert, vertiginous, 49 more
Today it means
noun One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error, or adopted a twisted sense of values or morals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / pervert