Etymograph

English

invincible

Invincible comes from Latin invincibilis ‘unconquerable’, from vincibilis ‘conquerable’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to overcome’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to overcome’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 CEvincō2as vincere‘to conquer’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincibilis2‘conquerable’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvincibilis2‘unconquerable’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600invincible2
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588invincible2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vinco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English invincible
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “You know our armie is inuincible: As many circumcized…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Latin vinco‘to overcome’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkéntiWiktionary, Latin vincoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkōWiktionary, Latin vinco‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincōWiktionary, English invincibleas vincere‘to conquer’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincibilisWiktionary, English invincible‘conquerable’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvincibilisWiktionary, English invincible‘unconquerable’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600invincibleWiktionary, English invincible
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588invincibleWiktionary, English invincible. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “You know our armie is inuincible: As many circumcized…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to overcome’

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

through Latin vincō ‘to conquer’

victory, conviction, convince, victorious, eviction, convict, evict, vanquish, 9 more

Today it means

adj Impossible to defeat, destroy, or kill; too powerful to be defeated or overcome.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “invincible”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vinco. 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- / invincible

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