English
occlusion
Occlusion comes from Late Latin occlūsiō ‘occluding, obstruction’, from Latin occlūdō ‘to shut up or close up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-1‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudō1‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudō2‘to shut or close’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEocclūdō2‘to shut up or close up’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEocclūsiō2‘occluding, obstruction’
- Englishtodayocclusion2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin claudo
- 2 Wiktionary, English occlusion
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kleh₂w-Wiktionary, Latin claudo‘key, hook, nail’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*klaudōWiktionary, Latin claudo‘to close’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEclaudōWiktionary, English occlusion‘to shut or close’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEocclūdōWiktionary, English occlusion‘to shut up or close up’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEocclūsiōWiktionary, English occlusion‘occluding, obstruction’
- EnglishtodayocclusionWiktionary, English occlusion
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- ‘key, hook, nail’
include, cataract, conclave, subclavian, 27 more
through Proto-Italic *klaudō ‘to close’
closet, disclose, enclose, inclusiveness, 25 more
through Latin claudō ‘to shut or close’
close, exclusive, closure, clause, conclusion, exclude, conclude, inclusive, inclusion, preclude, cloister, sluice, recluse, claustrophobia, cloture, 30 more
Today it means
noun The process of occluding, or something that occludes.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “occlusion”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin claudo. 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 *kleh₂w- / occlusion