Etymograph

English

devotion

Devotion comes from Latin dēvōtiō ‘the act of devoting or consecrating’, from voveō ‘vow, promise’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wegʷʰ-1‘to promise, to vow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wogʷʰéyeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*woɣʷeō1‘to vow, promise’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvoveō1‘vow, promise’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvoveō2‘vow, devote’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupine2
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvōtum2
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvōtiō2‘the act of devoting or consecrating’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400devocion2
  10. Englishtodaydevotion2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin devoveo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English devotion

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wegʷʰ-Wiktionary, Latin devoveo‘to promise, to vow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁wogʷʰéyetiWiktionary, Latin devoveoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*woɣʷeōWiktionary, Latin devoveo‘to vow, promise’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvoveōWiktionary, Latin devoveo‘vow, promise’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvoveōWiktionary, English devotion‘vow, devote’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsupineWiktionary, English devotion
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvōtumWiktionary, English devotion
  8. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēvōtiōWiktionary, English devotion‘the act of devoting or consecrating’
  9. Old Frenchc. 842–1400devocionWiktionary, English devotion
  10. EnglishtodaydevotionWiktionary, English devotion

Formed from devote + -ion

Proto-Indo-European *h₁wegʷʰ- ‘to promise, to vow’

…

Proto-Italic *woɣʷeō ‘to vow, promise’

Latin voveō ‘vow, promise’

Latin dēvoveō ‘dedicate by a vow, sacrifice oneself, promise…’

Latin dēvōtus ‘vowed, promised, dedicated, having been…’

English devote

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *woɣʷeō ‘to vow, promise’

vote, 2 more

through Latin voveō ‘vow, promise’

vow, 2 more

through Latin dēvoveō ‘vow, devote’

devout, 2 more

Today it means

noun The act or state of devoting or being devoted; a feeling of being devoted (to something).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “devotion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin devoveo. 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 *h₁wegʷʰ- / devotion

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