Etymograph

English

eviction

Eviction comes from Late Latin ēvictiō ‘an eviction, a dispossession’, from Latin ēvincō ‘to overcome, conquer, subdue, vanquish’, and ultimately from 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 overcome, conquer, subdue, vanquish’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēvictiō2‘an eviction, a dispossession’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600éviction2
  8. Englishtodayeviction2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin evinco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English eviction

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 eviction‘to overcome, conquer, subdue, vanquish’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEēvictiōWiktionary, English eviction‘an eviction, a dispossession’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600évictionWiktionary, English eviction
  8. EnglishtodayevictionWiktionary, English eviction

Linked words

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

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

through Latin vincō ‘conquer’

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

Today it means

noun The act of evicting.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eviction”; 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- / eviction

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