English
veterinary
Veterinary comes from Latin veterīnārius ‘a cattle-doctor, veterinarian’, and goes back to veterīnus ‘related to carrying or drawing burdens’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveterīnus‘related to carrying or drawing burdens’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEveterīnārius‘a cattle-doctor, veterinarian’
- Englishearliest quotation 1905veterinary
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveterīnus‘related to carrying or drawing burdens’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEveterīnārius‘a cattle-doctor, veterinarian’
- Englishearliest quotation 1905veterinary
Earliest quotation: 1905, Frances Simpson, Cats for Pleasure and Profit: “Mr. Ward may rightly be considered the wizard of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wet- ‘year’
through Proto-Indo-European *wétos ‘year’
through Latin vetus ‘old’
Today it means
adj Of or relating to the medical or surgical treatment of non-human animals, especially domestic and farm animals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin veterīnus / veterinary