Etymograph

English

averruncate

Averruncate comes from Latin āverruncāre ‘to avert’, and goes back to āb ‘off’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāb1‘off’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāverruncāre1‘to avert’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1859averruncate1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English averruncate
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Samuel Butler, Canto 1, Line 758: “Unless by providential wit, / Or force, we averruncate…”.

Earlier history not traced here. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEābWiktionary, English averruncate‘off’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEāverruncāreWiktionary, English averruncate‘to avert’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1859averruncateWiktionary, English averruncate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1859, Samuel Butler, Canto 1, Line 758: “Unless by providential wit, / Or force, we averruncate…”

Linked words

through Latin āb ‘off’

abdomen, 3 more

Today it means

verb To avert; to ward off.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “averruncate”. 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 / Latin āb / averruncate

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