Etymograph

English

evict

Evict comes from Latin ēvictus ‘vanquished, conquered, overcome (thoroughly)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkénti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkō1‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincō1‘conquer’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēvincō2‘to vanquish completely’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēvictus2‘vanquished, conquered, overcome (thoroughly)’past participle of ēvincō
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500evicten2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2020evict2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin evinco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English evict
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Stephen Burgen, Balearic islands pass bill targeting boozy Brits abroad: “The legislation also seeks to outlaw “balconing”, the practice…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Latin evinco‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkéntiWiktionary, Latin evincoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkōWiktionary, Latin evinco‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincōWiktionary, Latin evinco‘conquer’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēvincōWiktionary, English evict‘to vanquish completely’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēvictusWiktionary, English evict‘vanquished, conquered, overcome (thoroughly)’past participle of ēvincō
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500evictenWiktionary, English evict
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2020evictWiktionary, English evict. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Stephen Burgen, Balearic islands pass bill targeting boozy Brits abroad: “The legislation also seeks to outlaw “balconing”, the practice…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’

province, weakness, witch, iconic, icon, victim, wicked, wo, victor, wight, weakly, vicar, wile, ancona, waw, 32 more

through Latin vincō ‘conquer’

convince, victory, conviction, invincible, victorious, convict, vanquish, 10 more

Today it means

verb To expel (one or more people) from their property; to force (one or more people) to move out.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “evict”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin evinco. 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 *weyk- / evict

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