Etymograph

English

obviate

Obviate comes from Latin obviō ‘to block, to hinder’, from obvius ‘meeting, in the way’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to chase, pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiā1‘road’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvia1‘road, street, path’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobvius1‘meeting, in the way’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobviō2‘to block, to hinder’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobviātus2perfect passive participle of obviō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1814obviate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin obvio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English obviate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, Jane Austen, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton: “[…] and in the kindest manner she now urged…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Latin obvio‘to chase, pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wiāWiktionary, Latin obvio‘road’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviaWiktionary, Latin obvio‘road, street, path’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobviusWiktionary, Latin obvio‘meeting, in the way’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobviōWiktionary, English obviate‘to block, to hinder’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobviātusWiktionary, English obviateperfect passive participle of obviō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1814obviateWiktionary, English obviate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1814, Jane Austen, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton: “[…] and in the kindest manner she now urged…”

first attested First attested in 1567 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1567; borrowed from Latin obviātus, perfect passive participle of obviō (‘to block, to hinder’), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to chase, pursue’

violent, virtual, inevitable, violation, virtue, vengeance, avenge, violate, vis, virtuous, venison, wer, virtuoso, ochre, vindication, vim, virile, virility, inviolable, violator, virago, 51 more

through Latin via ‘road, street, path’

previous, via, voyage, convey, envoy, trivial, trivia, deviation, deviant, viaduct, trivium, 13 more

through Latin obvius ‘meeting, in the way’

obvious

Another origin of obviate

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobviātus
  2. Englishtodayobviate

Today it means

verb To anticipate and prevent or bypass (something which would otherwise have been necessary or required); to render (something) unnecessary.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “obviate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin obvio. 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 *weyh₁- / obviate

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