Etymograph

English

pulvillio

Pulvillio comes from Spanish polvillo ‘dust’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1‘flour, dust’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulvis1‘dust, powder, ashes’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pulvus1‘dust, powder’reconstructed
  4. Old Spanishc. 950–1500polvos1
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentpolvo2‘dust, powder’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentpolvillo2‘dust’diminutive of polvo
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1711pulvillio2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Spanish polvo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pulvillio
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1711, FRIDAY, May 12, 1711: “Smells of incense, ambergris, and pulvillios.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, Spanish polvo‘flour, dust’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpulvisWiktionary, Spanish polvo‘dust, powder, ashes’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pulvusWiktionary, Spanish polvo‘dust, powder’reconstructed
  4. Old Spanishc. 950–1500polvosWiktionary, Spanish polvo
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentpolvoWiktionary, English pulvillio‘dust, powder’
  6. Spanishc. 1500–presentpolvilloWiktionary, English pulvillio‘dust’diminutive of polvo
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1711pulvillioWiktionary, English pulvillio. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1711, FRIDAY, May 12, 1711: “Smells of incense, ambergris, and pulvillios.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pel- ‘flour, dust’

felt, simple, simply, film, push, complain, filter, fold, repeal, pulse, flaw, palate, pollen, expel, repel, palpable, propel, palatable, palladium, compulsive, pelt, peloton, pall, polemic, wallow, tuple, palatal, muffle, apoplexy, peplum, palp, pollinate, interpolate, pillion, 62 more

through Latin pulvis ‘dust, powder, ashes’

powder, pillow, pulver, 9 more

Today it means

noun A kind of perfumed cosmetic powder, applied to the skin, hair or wig.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pulvillio”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Spanish polvo. 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 *pel- / pulvillio

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