Etymograph

English

concave

Concave comes from Latin concavus ‘concave, hollow’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *kawos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawos1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavus2
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcavus3‘concave, hollow’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400concave3
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500concave3
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600concave3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin cavus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin concavus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English concave
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “as concave […] as a worm-eaten nut”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kawosWiktionary, Latin cavusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcavusWiktionary, Latin concavus
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconcavusWiktionary, English concave‘concave, hollow’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400concaveWiktionary, English concave
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500concaveWiktionary, English concave
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1598–1600concaveWiktionary, English concave. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1598–1600, William Shakespeare, As You Like It: “as concave […] as a worm-eaten nut”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱewh₁- ‘to swell’

church, kirk, hound, cyst, cumulus, cajole, 38 more

through Proto-Italic *kawos

jailer, cavernous, 13 more

through Latin cavus

jail, cage, cavity, excavation, gaol, cavern, excavate, caul, cavil, 15 more

Today it means

adj Curved like the inner surface of a sphere or bowl.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “concave”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin cavus, Latin concavus. 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-Italic *kawos / concave

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