Etymograph

English

revocable

Revocable comes from Latin revocabilis ‘revocable, withdrawable, recallable’, from vocō ‘to call, summon, beckon’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wokʷ-1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocō1‘to call, summon, beckon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocō2‘to revoke, to withdraw’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocabilis3‘revocable, withdrawable, recallable’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revocable3
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600révocable3
  7. Englishtodayrevocable3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin revoco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin revocabilis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English revocable

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wokʷ-Wiktionary, Latin revocoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocōWiktionary, Latin revoco‘to call, summon, beckon’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocōWiktionary, Latin revocabilis‘to revoke, to withdraw’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErevocabilisWiktionary, English revocable‘revocable, withdrawable, recallable’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400revocableWiktionary, English revocable
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600révocableWiktionary, English revocable
  7. EnglishtodayrevocableWiktionary, English revocable

Formed from revoke + -able

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

Latin revocare

Middle French révoquer

English revoke

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-

vocabulary, convocation, 23 more

through Latin vocō ‘to call, summon, beckon’

invite, invitation, advocate, vie, provoke, vocational, invoke, provocative, vouch, provocation, vocation, provocateur, 31 more

Today it means

adj Having the ability of being revoked; capable of being revoked.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “revocable”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin revoco, Latin revocabilis. 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 *wokʷ- / revocable

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