English
visceral
Visceral may come from Middle French viscéral.
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600viscéraluncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1624visceral
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600viscéraluncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1624visceral
Earliest quotation: 1624, Sermon XIV. Preached at Whitehall, March 4, 1624.: “[T]here is none good but God; there is centrical,…”
The story
From Middle French viscéral (modern French viscéral), or from its etymon Medieval Latin viscerālis (‘internal’) + English -al (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Viscerālis is derived from Latin viscera (a plural form of vīscus (‘internal organ of the body’); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *weys- (‘to rotate, turn’)) + -ālis (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weys- ‘to raise, increase’
virus, weasel, whisk, ooze, virulent, woozy, virion, eviscerate, 7 more
Today it means
adj Of or relating to, made up of, or positioned among or within, the viscera (“internal organs of the body, especially those contained within the abdominal and thoracic cavities”).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle French viscéral / visceral