Etymograph

English

diversity

Diversity comes from Latin dīversitās ‘diversity, difference’, from dīversus ‘separate, apart’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-1‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetor1‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō1‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō1‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvertō1‘to separate’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīversus1‘separate, apart’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīversitās2‘diversity, difference’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400diversité2
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500diversite2‘deviation, diversion’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1858diversity2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin diversitas
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English diversity
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1858, Stephen A. Douglas: “From this view of the case, my friends, I…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-Wiktionary, Latin diversitas‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetorWiktionary, Latin diversitas‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertōWiktionary, Latin diversitas‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōWiktionary, Latin diversitas‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to turn about, turn around, revolve’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīvertōWiktionary, Latin diversitas‘to separate’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīversusWiktionary, Latin diversitas‘separate, apart’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīversitāsWiktionary, English diversity‘diversity, difference’
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400diversitéWiktionary, English diversity
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500diversiteWiktionary, English diversity‘deviation, diversion’
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1858diversityWiktionary, English diversity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1858, Stephen A. Douglas: “From this view of the case, my friends, I…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’

word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, derision, invert, deride, wurst, derisive, extraversion, 59 more

through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’

adverse, inverse, transverse, perverse, inversion, aversion, averse, vertebra, perversion, evert, reversion, 42 more

through Latin vertō ‘to turn, turn oneself, direct one's way, to…’

university, version, conversation, divorce, vertical, versus, advertisement, verse, vortex, convertible, versatile, advert, revert, pervert, vertex, vertigo, avert, vertebrate, introvert, subvert, vert, adversity, verso, perversity, 52 more

Today it means

noun The quality of being diverse or different; a difference or unlikeness.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “diversity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin diversitas. 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 *wert- / diversity

Shirt and support for this word