English
coven
Coven comes from Old French covent, and goes back to Latin conveniō ‘to convene, assemble, gather, meet or come…’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniō1‘to convene, assemble, gather, meet or come together’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconventum1
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400covent1
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400covent1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500covent1‘a congregation or meeting’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965coven1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English coven
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic: “A coven of witches is traditionally composed of thirteen…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconveniōWiktionary, English coven‘to convene, assemble, gather, meet or come together’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEconventumWiktionary, English coven
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400coventWiktionary, English coven
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400coventWiktionary, English coven
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500coventWiktionary, English coven‘a congregation or meeting’
- Englishearliest quotation 1965covenWiktionary, English coven. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1965, Attila Zohar, Kings Cross Black Magic: “A coven of witches is traditionally composed of thirteen…”
A compound of cum ‘with’ + venio ‘to come’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’
Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti ‘to come’
Proto-Italic *gʷəniō ‘to come’
Latin venio ‘to come’
Linked words
through Latin conveniō ‘to convene, assemble, gather, meet or come…’
convention, convenient, convenience, convene, 7 more
through Old French covent
Today it means
noun A nunnery, a convent.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “coven”. 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 conveniō / coven