Etymograph

English

suaviate

Suaviate comes from Latin suavior ‘to kiss’, from suāvis ‘sweet, pleasant, delicious’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂d-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweh₂d-1‘sweet’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéh₂dus2‘sweet’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*suādwus2reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swāwis2reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuāvis3‘sweet, pleasant, delicious’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuāvium4‘a kiss’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuavior5‘to kiss’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1650suaviate5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin suavis
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin suavium
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Latin suavior
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English suaviate
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, John Trapp: “And now, what joy will there be, to see…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*sweh₂d-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus‘sweet’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*swéh₂dusWiktionary, Latin suavis‘sweet’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*suādwusWiktionary, Latin suavisreconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*swāwisWiktionary, Latin suavisreconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuāvisWiktionary, Latin suavium‘sweet, pleasant, delicious’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuāviumWiktionary, Latin suavior‘a kiss’
  7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsuaviorWiktionary, English suaviate‘to kiss’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1650suaviateWiktionary, English suaviate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1650, John Trapp: “And now, what joy will there be, to see…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sweh₂d- ‘sweet’

persuade, persuasive, persuasion, hedonism, hedonic, hedonist, 5 more

through Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus ‘sweet’

sweet, 3 more

through Latin suāvis ‘sweet, pleasant, delicious’

assuage, suave, 2 more

Today it means

verb To kiss.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “suaviate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus, Latin suavis, Latin suavium, Latin suavior. 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 *sweh₂d- / suaviate

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