Etymograph

English

liquidation

Liquidation may come from Italian liquidare ‘to liquidate’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ- ‘moist, to wet’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wleykʷ-1‘moist, to wet’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wlikʷéh₁yeti1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(w)likʷēō1uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliqueō1‘to be liquid, fluid’uncertain
  5. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliquidus1‘liquid, fluid, flowing’uncertain
  6. Late Latinmodernliquidō1uncertain
  7. Italianc. 1300–presentliquidare1‘to liquidate’uncertain
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600liquider1
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600liquidation1
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1790liquidation1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English liquidation
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “Their compenſation becomes part of the national debt, for…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wleykʷ-Wiktionary, English liquidation‘moist, to wet’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wlikʷéh₁yetiWiktionary, English liquidationuncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*(w)likʷēōWiktionary, English liquidationuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliqueōWiktionary, English liquidation‘to be liquid, fluid’uncertain
  5. Classical Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEliquidusWiktionary, English liquidation‘liquid, fluid, flowing’uncertain
  6. Late LatinmodernliquidōWiktionary, English liquidationuncertain
  7. Italianc. 1300–presentliquidareWiktionary, English liquidation‘to liquidate’uncertain
  8. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600liquiderWiktionary, English liquidation
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600liquidationWiktionary, English liquidation
  10. Englishearliest quotation 1790liquidationWiktionary, English liquidation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1790, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France: “Their compenſation becomes part of the national debt, for…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *wleykʷ-

Today it means

noun The act of exchange of an asset of lesser liquidity with a more liquid one, such as cash.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “liquidation”. 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 *wleykʷ- / liquidation

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