English
convivial
Convivial comes from Latin convīvium ‘a feast’, from vīvō ‘to live’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷeyh₃-1‘to live’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷih₃wós1‘alive, living’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷíh₃weti2‘to live’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷīwō2‘to live, to be alive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvō3‘to live’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconvīva4
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconvīvium3‘a feast’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconvivial3
- Englishearliest quotation 1929convivial3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin vivo
- 3 Wiktionary, English convivial
- 4 Wiktionary, Latin convivium
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka: “I put the chief of police behind the bar,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷeyh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti‘to live’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷih₃wósWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti‘alive, living’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷíh₃wetiWiktionary, Latin vivo‘to live’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷīwōWiktionary, Latin vivo‘to live, to be alive’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvōWiktionary, English convivial‘to live’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconvīvaWiktionary, Latin convivium
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconvīviumWiktionary, English convivial‘a feast’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentconvivialWiktionary, English convivial
- Englishearliest quotation 1929convivialWiktionary, English convivial. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka: “I put the chief of police behind the bar,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’
biology, kidney, vitamin, hygiene, viable, revive, zodiac, vitality, anaerobic, quicken, quicksilver, quickness, biogenesis, wyvern, 57 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós ‘alive, living’
through Latin vīvō ‘to live’
Today it means
adj Having elements of a feast or of entertainment, especially when it comes to eating and drinking, with accompanying festivity
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “convivial”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti, Latin vivo, Latin convivium. 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 *gʷeyh₃- / convivial