Etymograph

English

vanquish

Vanquish comes from Middle English venquysshen ‘to triumph over a rival military force’, from Latin vincō ‘to conquer, to defeat, to vanquish’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to overcome’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-1‘to overcome’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkénti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkō1‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincō2‘to conquer, to defeat, to vanquish’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veincre2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500venquysshen2‘to triumph over a rival military force’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597vanquish2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vinco
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vanquish
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “In ſingle Combat thou ſhalt buckle vvith me; /…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-Wiktionary, Latin vinco‘to overcome’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*winékti ~ *winkéntiWiktionary, Latin vincoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*winkōWiktionary, Latin vinco‘to conquer, overcome’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvincōWiktionary, English vanquish‘to conquer, to defeat, to vanquish’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veincreWiktionary, English vanquish
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500venquysshenWiktionary, English vanquish‘to triumph over a rival military force’
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1597vanquishWiktionary, English vanquish. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]: “In ſingle Combat thou ſhalt buckle vvith me; /…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to overcome’

victim, province, weakness, victor, icon, witch, wicked, wo, vicar, wight, weakly, wile, waw, ancona, 32 more

through Latin vincō ‘to conquer, to defeat, to vanquish’

victory, convince, conviction, victorious, convict, invincible, eviction, evict, 9 more

Today it means

verb To defeat (someone); to overcome.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vanquish”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vinco. 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 *weyk- / vanquish

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