Etymograph

English

review

Review comes from Middle English revewe, from Old French reveue, participle of reveoir, from Latin revideō, from videō ‘to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēō2‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideō3‘to see’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevideō3‘to see again’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveoir3
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveu3
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveue3
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500revewe3‘an examination of an army’
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611review3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English review
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “Cam[illo] What I do next, ſhall be next to…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yetiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēōWiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideōWiktionary, English review‘to see’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevideōWiktionary, English review‘to see again’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveoirWiktionary, English review
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveuWiktionary, English review
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reveueWiktionary, English review
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500reveweWiktionary, English review‘an examination of an army’
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1610–1611reviewWiktionary, English review. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Winters Tale: “Cam[illo] What I do next, ſhall be next to…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’

story, guy, idea, guide, advice, witness, wise, historic, wisdom, wit, idol, wizard, historian, advise, witty, guise, steroid, tabloid, visitation, envious, druid, envision, improvise, twit, hypothyroidism, avis, revue, idyll, witter, hyperthyroidism, parathyroid, trapezoid, hyoid, colloid, weet, sigmoid, thyroxine, thyroiditis, visite, 90 more

through Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

providential, 12 more

through Proto-Italic *widēō ‘to see’

provision, providence, prudential, invisibility, provident, vada, evidential, 14 more

through Latin videō ‘see, observe’

video, provide, visit, evidence, vision, interview, invisible, visa, visibility, evident, vista, prudent, jurisprudence, prudence, revise, voyeur, vide, purveyor, proviso, purview, invidious, 16 more

through Latin revideō ‘to revisit somewhere’

revision

Today it means

noun A second or subsequent reading of a text or artifact in an attempt to gain new insights.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “review”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *widēō, Latin video. 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 *weyd- / review

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