Etymograph

English

impluvium

Impluvium comes from Latin impluvium ‘a rectangular courtyard basin or pool into…’, from impluit ‘rains upon’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to fly, flow, run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-1‘to fly, flow, run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pléweti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plowō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpluit1‘rains’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpluit2‘rains upon’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpluvium2‘a rectangular courtyard basin or pool into which rain water is collected by a compluvium…’
  7. Englishtodayimpluvium2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin impluit
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English impluvium

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*plew-Wiktionary, Latin impluit‘to fly, flow, run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pléwetiWiktionary, Latin impluitreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*plowōWiktionary, Latin impluitreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpluitWiktionary, Latin impluit‘rains’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpluitWiktionary, English impluvium‘rains upon’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEimpluviumWiktionary, English impluvium‘a rectangular courtyard basin or pool into which rain water is collected by a compluvium…’
  7. EnglishtodayimpluviumWiktionary, English impluvium

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *plew- ‘to fly, flow, run’

fly, flow, flew, pneumonia, fowl, plough, plutonium, flue, flay, plutocracy, 24 more

through Latin pluit ‘rains’

plover, 7 more

Today it means

noun A low basin in the center of a household atrium, into which rainwater flowed down from the roof through the compluvium.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “impluvium”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin impluit. 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 *plew- / impluvium

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