Etymograph

English

oleraceous

Oleraceous comes from Latin oleraceus, from holus ‘garden or pot herbs, vegetables’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-1‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰélh₃-s ~ *ǵʰl̥h₃-és1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*helos1reconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEhelus1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEholus2as olus‘garden or pot herbs, vegetables’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoleraceus2
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1683oleraceous2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin holus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English oleraceous
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1683, Thomas Brown [i.e., (please specify the page): “grow unto a ligneous substance, and from an herby…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰelh₃-Wiktionary, Latin holus‘green, yellow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ǵʰélh₃-s ~ *ǵʰl̥h₃-ésWiktionary, Latin holusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*helosWiktionary, Latin holusreconstructed
  4. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEhelusWiktionary, Latin holus
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEholusWiktionary, English oleraceousas olus‘garden or pot herbs, vegetables’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoleraceusWiktionary, English oleraceous
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1683oleraceousWiktionary, English oleraceous. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1683, Thomas Brown [i.e., (please specify the page): “grow unto a ligneous substance, and from an herby…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- ‘green, yellow’

gold, fell, yellow, chlorine, gall, felon, gullible, yolk, cholera, glib, gild, choline, zloty, chlorella, 26 more

Today it means

adj Relating to potherbs.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “oleraceous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin holus. 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 *ǵʰelh₃- / oleraceous

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