Etymograph

English

vote

Vote comes from Latin vōtum ‘vow, promise’, a form of voveō ‘to vow’, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- ‘to promise’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wegʷʰ-‘to promise, to vow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wogʷʰéyetireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*woɣʷeō‘to vow’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvoveō‘to vow’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōtum‘vow, promise’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1633vote

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wegʷʰ-‘to promise, to vow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wogʷʰéyetireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*woɣʷeō‘to vow’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvoveō‘to vow’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōtum‘vow, promise’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1633vote

Earliest quotation: 1633, Philip Massinger, The Guardian: “Jol[ante]. In you, Sir, / I live; and when,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *woɣʷeō ‘to vow, promise’

devotion, devout, 2 more

through Latin vōtum ‘promise, dedication, vow, solemn pledge’

vow, votive

Today it means

noun A formalized choice on legally relevant measures such as employment or appointment to office or a proceeding about a legal dispute.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- / vote

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