Etymograph

English

pave

Pave comes from Old French paver ‘to pave, to cover’, from Vulgar Latin *pavāre ‘to beat down, to smash’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘to strike, hit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-1‘to strike, hit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaviō2as pavīre‘to beat, strike, ram, tread down’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pavāre2‘to beat down, to smash’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paver2‘to pave, to cover’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1970pave2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pavio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pave
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1970, Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi: “They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-Wiktionary, Latin pavio‘to strike, hit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpaviōWiktionary, English paveas pavīre‘to beat, strike, ram, tread down’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pavāreWiktionary, English pave‘to beat down, to smash’reconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400paverWiktionary, English pave‘to pave, to cover’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1970paveWiktionary, English pave. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1970, Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi: “They paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘to strike, hit’

few, poor, fewer, pose, puppy, pupil, puppet, pause, pediatrics, filly, pedagogy, orthopedics, menopausal, puerile, paucity, posada, pupa, 29 more

Today it means

verb To cover something with paving slabs.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pave”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pavio. 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 *peh₂w- / pave

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