Etymograph

English

eruption

Eruption comes from Latin eruptio ‘an eruption’, from erumpō ‘to break out (of), to burst out (of)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-1‘to break, tear (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrunépti1‘to be breaking’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErumpō1‘to break, burst, tear, rend, rupture’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEerumpō1‘to break out (of), to burst out (of)’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeruptio2‘an eruption’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600éruption2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1976eruption2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin eruptio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English eruption
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1976, Rudy Kikel, The Doomsday Book by the Jewish Comedian: “Ultimately, Greenfield may remind us of no one so…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*Hrewp-Wiktionary, Latin eruptio‘to break, tear (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*HrunéptiWiktionary, Latin eruptio‘to be breaking’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErumpōWiktionary, Latin eruptio‘to break, burst, tear, rend, rupture’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEerumpōWiktionary, Latin eruptio‘to break out (of), to burst out (of)’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeruptioWiktionary, English eruption‘an eruption’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600éruptionWiktionary, English eruption
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1976eruptionWiktionary, English eruption. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1976, Rudy Kikel, The Doomsday Book by the Jewish Comedian: “Ultimately, Greenfield may remind us of no one so…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- ‘to break, tear (up)’

route, rob, robbery, rover, robe, reaver, 23 more

through Proto-Indo-European *Hrunépti ‘to be breaking’

corruption, 6 more

through Latin rumpō ‘to break, burst, tear, rend, rupture’

corrupt, rout, disrupt, rupture, 11 more

Today it means

noun A violent ejection, such as the spurting out of lava from a volcano.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eruption”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin eruptio. 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 *Hrewp- / eruption

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