Etymograph

English

pervicacy

Pervicacy comes from Latin pervicācia ‘persistence’, from pervincō ‘to conquer’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkénti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkō1‘to tie, bind’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincō1‘to defeat, vanquish, beat’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervincō2‘to conquer’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervicāx3‘firm, determined, persistent, dogged’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervicācia3‘persistence’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1748pervicacy3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pervinco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin pervicax
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English pervicacy
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1748, Samuel Richardson, Letter LI: “You mother will have me do so, that you…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Latin pervinco‘to sift, separate’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkéntiWiktionary, Latin pervincoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkōWiktionary, Latin pervinco‘to tie, bind’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincōWiktionary, Latin pervinco‘to defeat, vanquish, beat’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervincōWiktionary, Latin pervicax‘to conquer’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervicāxWiktionary, English pervicacy‘firm, determined, persistent, dogged’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpervicāciaWiktionary, English pervicacy‘persistence’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1748pervicacyWiktionary, English pervicacy. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1748, Samuel Richardson, Letter LI: “You mother will have me do so, that you…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’

province, victim, weakness, witch, icon, victor, wicked, wo, wight, weakly, vicar, wile, ancona, waw, 31 more

through Latin vincō ‘to defeat, vanquish, beat’

victory, convince, conviction, invincible, victorious, convict, eviction, vanquish, evict, 8 more

Today it means

noun Pervicacity; stubbornness.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pervicacy”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin pervinco, Latin pervicax. 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 *weyk- / pervicacy

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