English
vadose
Vadose comes from Latin vadosus ‘full of shallows’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- ‘to go, to proceed’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₂dʰ-‘to go, to proceed’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wh₂dʰómreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*waðom‘ford, shallow water’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvadum‘a shallow, ford, shoal’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvadosus‘full of shallows’
- Englishearliest quotation 1985vadose
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₂dʰ-‘to go, to proceed’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wh₂dʰómreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*waðom‘ford, shallow water’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvadum‘a shallow, ford, shoal’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvadosus‘full of shallows’
- Englishearliest quotation 1985vadose
Earliest quotation: 1985, Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian: “The seep lay high up among the ledges, vadose…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- ‘to go, to proceed’
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to water beneath the surface of the earth which is located above the level of the permanent groundwater.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- / vadose