Etymograph

English

convey

Convey comes from Old French conveier ‘to escort (someone)’, from Latin via ‘way’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue, be strong’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to pursue, be strong’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂-1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā1‘road’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvia2‘way’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*convio2reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400conveier3‘to escort (someone)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conveien3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1592convey3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin via
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old French conveier
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English convey
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1592, Robert Greene: “Suppose you are good at the lift, who be…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Latin via‘to pursue, be strong’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wih₁eh₂-Wiktionary, Latin viareconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiāWiktionary, Latin via‘road’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviaWiktionary, Old French conveier‘way’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*convioWiktionary, Old French conveierreconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400conveierWiktionary, English convey‘to escort (someone)’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500conveienWiktionary, English convey
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1592conveyWiktionary, English convey. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1592, Robert Greene: “Suppose you are good at the lift, who be…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue, be strong’

violent, virtual, inevitable, violation, virtue, violate, vengeance, vis, virtuous, avenge, virtuoso, wer, vindication, ochre, vim, virile, venison, virility, violator, inviolable, virago, 51 more

through Latin via ‘way’

via, previous, obvious, voyage, trivial, trivia, deviation, envoy, deviant, viaduct, trivium, obviate, 13 more

through Vulgar Latin *convio

convoy

Today it means

verb To move (something) from one place to another.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “convey”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin via, Old French conveier. 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 *weyh₁- / convey

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