Etymograph

English

avoid

Avoid comes from Middle English avoiden, from Anglo-Norman avoider (Old French esvuidier ‘to empty out’), from Vulgar Latin *vocitāre.

  1. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vocitum1‘empty’reconstructed
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vocitāre1reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vuidier1
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esvuidier1‘to empty out’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400avoider1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500avoiden1
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1395avoid1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English avoid
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1395, Wycliffe Bible: “If thou haue, he shal lyue with thee, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vocitumWiktionary, English avoid‘empty’reconstructed
  2. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vocitāreWiktionary, English avoidreconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vuidierWiktionary, English avoid
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400esvuidierWiktionary, English avoid‘to empty out’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400avoiderWiktionary, English avoid
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500avoidenWiktionary, English avoid
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1395avoidWiktionary, English avoid. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1395, Wycliffe Bible: “If thou haue, he shal lyue with thee, and…”

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Today it means

verb To try not to meet or communicate with (a person); to shun.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “avoid”. 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 / Vulgar Latin *vocitum / avoid