Etymograph

English

omnivore

Omnivore comes from Latin omnivorus ‘eating all things, all-devouring, omnivorous’, from omnis ‘every’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-1‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opnis1‘every, all’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnis1‘every’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnivorus2‘eating all things, all-devouring, omnivorous’
  5. Englishtodayomnivore2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin omnivorus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English omnivore

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₃ep-Wiktionary, Latin omnivorus‘to work, toil, make’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*opnisWiktionary, Latin omnivorus‘every, all’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnisWiktionary, Latin omnivorus‘every’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEomnivorusWiktionary, English omnivore‘eating all things, all-devouring, omnivorous’
  5. EnglishtodayomnivoreWiktionary, English omnivore

Equivalent to omni- + -vore

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’

Proto-Italic *opnis ‘every, all’

Latin omnis ‘all’

English omni-

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₃ep- ‘to work, toil, make’

office, official, operation, copy, operate, opera, opus, copious, opulence, officiate, oeuvre, officiant, officious, 24 more

through Latin omnis ‘every’

bus, omnibus, omnium, 2 more

Today it means

noun An animal which is able to consume both plants (like a herbivore) and meat (like a carnivore).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “omnivore”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin omnivorus. 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 *h₃ep- / omnivore

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