English
nonvocal
Nonvocal comes from Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-1‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs1‘voice, speech’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks1‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx1‘voice’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālis1‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocal1
- English1500–presentvocal1
- Englishtodaynonvocal1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English nonvocal
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-Wiktionary, English nonvocal‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷsWiktionary, English nonvocal‘voice, speech’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōksWiktionary, English nonvocal‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōxWiktionary, English nonvocal‘voice’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālisWiktionary, English nonvocal‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocalWiktionary, English nonvocal
- English1500–presentvocalWiktionary, English nonvocal
- EnglishtodaynonvocalWiktionary, English nonvocal
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’
epic, wight, whit, epos, 30 more
through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’
through Latin vōx ‘voice’
voice, invite, invitation, vie, vox, invoke, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 23 more
through Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
through English vocal
Today it means
adj Not vocal; silent; not using one's voice.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “nonvocal”. 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 *wekʷ- / nonvocal