Etymograph

English

nonvoice

Nonvoice comes from Middle English voys ‘the voice of a particular person’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-1‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs1‘voice, speech’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks1‘voice’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcem1
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400voiz1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500voys1‘the voice of a particular person’
  7. English1500–presentvoice1
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2007nonvoice1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English nonvoice
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Jacqueline Palank, New York City Expects Federal Funds to Improve Emergency Rad: “Dr. Falkenrath said other proposals may include improving nonvoice…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-Wiktionary, English nonvoice‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷsWiktionary, English nonvoice‘voice, speech’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōksWiktionary, English nonvoice‘voice’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcemWiktionary, English nonvoice
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400voizWiktionary, English nonvoice
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500voysWiktionary, English nonvoice‘the voice of a particular person’
  7. English1500–presentvoiceWiktionary, English nonvoice
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2007nonvoiceWiktionary, English nonvoice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Jacqueline Palank, New York City Expects Federal Funds to Improve Emergency Rad: “Dr. Falkenrath said other proposals may include improving nonvoice…”

A compound of non- + voice

Proto-Indo-European *h₁óynos ‘one’

…

Proto-Germanic *nainaz ‘none, nought, zero’

Proto-West Germanic *nain

Old English nān ‘no, not any’

Middle English non ‘no, not any’

English non-

Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak’

…

Latin vōx

Latin vōcem

Anglo-Norman voiz

Middle English voice

English voice

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’

epic, wight, whit, epos, 30 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs ‘voice, speech’

vocalist, vocally, vocalize, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’

invite, vocal, invitation, vie, vox, invoke, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 29 more

through English voice

voiceless, 2 more

Today it means

adj Not of or pertaining to the voice.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “nonvoice”. 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- / nonvoice

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