English
intervene
Intervene comes from Latin interveniō ‘come between’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to come, to step’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yéti1‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷəniō1‘to come’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveniō1‘come’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinterveniō2‘come between’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667intervene2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin intervenio
- 2 Wiktionary, English intervene
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “For while so near each other thus all day…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, Latin intervenio‘to come, to step’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷm̥yétiWiktionary, Latin intervenio‘to come’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷəniōWiktionary, Latin intervenio‘to come’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveniōWiktionary, Latin intervenio‘come’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinterveniōWiktionary, English intervene‘come between’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667interveneWiktionary, English intervene. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “For while so near each other thus all day…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’
come, coming, base, basic, basis, revenue, bass, cum, venue, pug, contravention, quim, 54 more
through Proto-Indo-European *gʷm̥yéti ‘to come’
through Proto-Italic *gʷəniō ‘to come’
convenience, misadventure, 21 more
through Latin veniō ‘come’
event, avenue, convention, adventure, inventory, advent, souvenir, inventor, provenance, invent, convene, revenant, circumvention, contravene, 22 more
Today it means
verb To become involved in a situation, so as to alter or prevent an action.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “intervene”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin intervenio. 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 *gʷem- / intervene