Etymograph

English

advent

Advent comes from Latin adventus ‘arrival, approach’, from veniō ‘come’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to come, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yéti1‘to come’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷəniō1‘to come’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveniō1‘come’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadveniō2‘arrive’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadventus3‘arrival, approach’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1743advent3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin advenio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin adventus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English advent
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1743, Edward Young, Night the Fifth. The Relapse. […]: “Death's dreadful advent”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, Latin advenio‘to come, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yétiWiktionary, Latin advenio‘to come’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷəniōWiktionary, Latin advenio‘to come’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveniōWiktionary, Latin advenio‘come’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadveniōWiktionary, Latin adventus‘arrive’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadventusWiktionary, English advent‘arrival, approach’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1743adventWiktionary, English advent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1743, Edward Young, Night the Fifth. The Relapse. […]: “Death's dreadful advent”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’

come, coming, base, basic, basis, bass, revenue, cum, venue, pug, contravention, quim, 55 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti ‘to come’

diabetes, 33 more

through Proto-Italic *gʷəniō ‘to come’

convenience, 22 more

through Latin veniō ‘come’

event, convention, inventory, intervene, inventor, souvenir, invent, provenance, convene, circumvention, revenant, contravene, 22 more

through Latin adveniō ‘arrive’

avenue, misadventure, 7 more

Today it means

noun Arrival; onset; a time when something first comes or appears; the time when it is approaching.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “advent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin advenio, Latin adventus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- / advent

Shirt and support for this word