English
vocality
Vocality comes from Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘voice, speech’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx‘voice’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālis‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocal
- English1500–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1895vocality
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘voice, speech’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx‘voice’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālis‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocal
- English1500–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1895vocality
Earliest quotation: 1895, Captain Frederick Marryat: “The admiral, fearing she might not confine herself to…”
A compound of vocal + -ity
Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’
…
Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’
Latin vōx ‘a voice, sound, tone’
Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, sounding, speaking’
Middle English vocal
English vocal
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’
epic, wight, whit, epos, 33 more
through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’
through Latin vōx ‘voice’
voice, invite, invitation, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 26 more
through Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
Today it means
noun The quality or degree of being vocal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- / vocality