Etymograph

English

invulnerable

Invulnerable comes from Latin invulnerābilis, from vulnerābilis ‘injurious, wounding, vulnerable’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *welanos.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welanos1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvulnus2‘wound’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvulnerō2‘to wound’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvulnerābilis2‘injurious, wounding, vulnerable’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvulnerābilis2
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600invulnérable2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1979invulnerable2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vulnus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English invulnerable
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Brian Daley: “His gaze went to Hirken, who stood gloating behind…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*welanosWiktionary, Latin vulnusreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvulnusWiktionary, English invulnerable‘wound’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvulnerōWiktionary, English invulnerable‘to wound’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvulnerābilisWiktionary, English invulnerable‘injurious, wounding, vulnerable’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEinvulnerābilisWiktionary, English invulnerable
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600invulnérableWiktionary, English invulnerable
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1979invulnerableWiktionary, English invulnerable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Brian Daley: “His gaze went to Hirken, who stood gloating behind…”

Formed from in- + vulnerable

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’

Proto-Germanic *in ‘into’

English in-

Proto-Italic *welanos

Latin vulnus ‘wound’

Latin vulnerō ‘to wound’

Late Latin vulnerābilis ‘injurious, wounding’

English vulnerable

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- ‘to hit’

pull, convulsive, convulsion, 22 more

Today it means

adj Incapable of being injured; not vulnerable.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “invulnerable”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vulnus. 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 *welanos / invulnerable

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