Etymograph

English

evidential

Evidential comes from Latin ēvidentia ‘evidence’, from videō ‘to appear, seem’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēō2‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideō3as videor‘to appear, seem’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEevidens4‘apparent, visible, evident, manifest, plain, clear’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēvidentia5‘evidence’
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500ēvidentiālis5
  8. Englishtodayevidential5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin evidens
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin evidentia
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English evidential

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yetiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēōWiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideōWiktionary, Latin evidensas videor‘to appear, seem’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEevidensWiktionary, Latin evidentia‘apparent, visible, evident, manifest, plain, clear’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEēvidentiaWiktionary, English evidential‘evidence’
  7. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500ēvidentiālisWiktionary, English evidential
  8. EnglishtodayevidentialWiktionary, English evidential

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’

story, guy, idea, advice, witness, wise, historic, guide, wisdom, wit, wizard, advise, historian, idol, witty, guise, steroid, tabloid, visitation, envious, revue, improvise, envision, druid, twit, avis, hypothyroidism, witter, idyll, hyperthyroidism, parathyroid, trapezoid, weet, hyoid, thyroxine, colloid, visite, sigmoid, thyroiditis, 92 more

through Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

providential, 14 more

through Proto-Italic *widēō ‘to see’

provision, revision, providence, invisibility, vada, prudential, provident, 16 more

through Latin videō ‘to appear, seem’

video, visit, review, provide, interview, vision, invisible, visa, visibility, vista, revise, prudent, jurisprudence, prudence, purview, voyeur, purveyor, proviso, vide, invidious, 18 more

Today it means

adj Of or providing evidence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “evidential”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *widēō, Latin video, Latin evidens, Latin evidentia. 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 *weyd- / evidential

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