Etymograph

English

veal

Veal comes from Anglo-Norman veel, from Latin vitellus ‘a small calf’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wet-‘year’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wetelos‘bull calf, yearling’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitulus‘calf’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitellus‘a small calf’diminutive of vitulus
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400veel
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veel
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1811veal

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wet-‘year’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wetelos‘bull calf, yearling’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitulus‘calf’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvitellus‘a small calf’diminutive of vitulus
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400veel
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veel
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1811veal

Earliest quotation: 1811, George B. Worgan, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Cornwall: “The division outside the vealing place is for a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’

veteran, veterinary, veterinarian, wether, inveterate, bacha, 17 more

through Latin vitulus ‘calf’

viol, 7 more

Today it means

noun The flesh of a calf (i.e. a young bovine) used for food.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wet- / veal

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