Etymograph

English

exoculate

Exoculate comes from Latin exoculō ‘to remove the eyes’, from oculus ‘eye’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *okʷ(e)los.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*okʷ(e)los1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculus2‘eye’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculō3‘to furnish with eyes, to make to see’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexoculō4‘to remove the eyes’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexoculātus4perfect passive participle of exoculō
  6. Englishtodayexoculate4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin oculus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin oculo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin exoculo
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English exoculate

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*okʷ(e)losWiktionary, Latin oculusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculusWiktionary, Latin oculo‘eye’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoculōWiktionary, Latin exoculo‘to furnish with eyes, to make to see’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexoculōWiktionary, English exoculate‘to remove the eyes’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexoculātusWiktionary, English exoculateperfect passive participle of exoculō
  6. EnglishtodayexoculateWiktionary, English exoculate

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- ‘to see’

eye, anthropology, optics, ogle, synoptic, awk, anthropoid, 37 more

through Latin oculus ‘eye’

oculus, monocle, ocular, doily, inoculation, inoculate, 15 more

Today it means

verb To deprive of eyes; blind.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “exoculate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin oculus, Latin oculo, Latin exoculo. 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-Italic *okʷ(e)los / exoculate

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