English
vertical
Vertical comes from Late Latin verticālis ‘located over the head, vertically above’, from Latin vertō ‘to turn around, turn about’, 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 CEvertō‘to turn around, turn about’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertexas verticis‘vortex, crown of the head (genitive)’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEverticālis‘located over the head, vertically above’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600vertical
- Englishearliest quotation 2010vertical
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 around, turn about’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertexas verticis‘vortex, crown of the head (genitive)’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEverticālis‘located over the head, vertically above’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600vertical
- Englishearliest quotation 2010vertical
Earliest quotation: 2010, Joseph Tartakoff, What search verticals will Google target next?: “As Barclay Capital's Douglas Anmuth wrote in a report…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’
word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, derision, wurst, deride, invert, derisive, extraversion, 58 more
through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’
adverse, diversion, inverse, transverse, inversion, aversion, perverse, averse, perversion, reversion, 41 more
through Latin vertō ‘to turn around, turn about’
university, version, divorce, conversation, diversity, versus, diverse, verse, advertisement, versatile, adversity, convertible, advert, divert, revert, pervert, diversification, vertebrate, avert, introvert, subvert, verso, vertebra, perversity, evert, 50 more
through Latin vertex ‘vortex, crown of the head (genitive)’
Today it means
adj Standing, pointing, or moving straight up or down; parallel to the local direction of gravity; along the direction of a plumb line; perpendicular to something horizontal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wert- / vertical