English
versus
Versus comes from Latin versus ‘facing’, from vertō ‘to turn, change, overthrow, destroy’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert-.
- 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 CEvertōas vertere, past participle‘to turn, change, overthrow, destroy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEversus‘facing’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500versus
- Englishearliest quotation 2005versus
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 CEvertōas vertere, past participle‘to turn, change, overthrow, destroy’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEversus‘facing’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500versus
- Englishearliest quotation 2005versus
Earliest quotation: 2005, Robert E. Weiss, Modeling Longitudinal Data: “If, for example, we select random people entering a…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
word, worth, weird, ridiculous, ridicule, derision, invert, deride, derisive, wurst, extraversion, 55 more
through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
diversion, transverse, inversion, aversion, vertebra, perversion, subvert, reversion, evert, vertiginous, 38 more
through Latin vertō ‘to turn, change, overthrow, destroy’
version, divorce, conversation, diversity, vertical, diverse, advertisement, vortex, adverse, convertible, versatile, advert, divert, revert, diversification, pervert, adversity, inverse, vertex, vertigo, avert, vertebrate, introvert, perverse, vert, averse, perversity, 47 more
through Latin versus ‘facing’
Today it means
prep Against; in opposition to.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / versus