Etymograph

English

revelator

Revelator comes from Latin revēlō ‘to reveal or disclose’, from vēlō ‘to cover’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-1‘to bring’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wekslom1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlum2‘covering, veil’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlō3‘to cover’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevēlō4as revēlātor‘to reveal or disclose’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revelator4
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1994revelator4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin velum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin velo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin revelo
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English revelator
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, 1945, William R. Newell: “But it was Paul to whom the Lord revealed…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-Wiktionary, Latin velum‘to bring’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wekslomWiktionary, Latin velumreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlumWiktionary, Latin velo‘covering, veil’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlōWiktionary, Latin revelo‘to cover’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevēlōWiktionary, English revelatoras revēlātor‘to reveal or disclose’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revelatorWiktionary, English revelator
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1994revelatorWiktionary, English revelator. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1994, 1945, William R. Newell: “But it was Paul to whom the Lord revealed…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’

way, always, via, vehicle, wave, halfway, weigh, wagon, wee, vogue, wedge, vein, vector, headway, wag, wonky, eunuch, venous, vex, wey, waw, wain, vena, invective, 39 more

through Latin vēlum ‘covering, veil’

reveal, veil, velar, 9 more

Today it means

noun A person or personified agent who reveals; especially, one who makes a divine revelation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “revelator”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin velum, Latin velo, Latin revelo. 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 *weǵʰ- / revelator

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