Etymograph

English

vein

Vein comes from Old French veine, from Latin vēna ‘a blood-vessel’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring, transport’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-1‘to bring, transport’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēna2‘a blood-vessel’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veine2
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veine2
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588vein2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vena
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vein
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “An vncouth paine torments my grieued ſoule, And death…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-Wiktionary, Latin vena‘to bring, transport’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēnaWiktionary, English vein‘a blood-vessel’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veineWiktionary, English vein
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500veineWiktionary, English vein
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588veinWiktionary, English vein. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “An vncouth paine torments my grieued ſoule, And death…”

The story

From Middle English veine, borrowed from Anglo-Norman veine, from Latin vēna (‘a blood-vessel; vein; artery’) of uncertain origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

way, always, via, vehicle, wave, reveal, halfway, wagon, wee, vogue, vector, weigh, wedge, headway, wag, veil, wonky, eunuch, wey, waw, vex, wain, venal, velar, invective, 39 more

through Latin vēna ‘a blood-vessel’

venous, vena, 3 more

Today it means

noun A blood vessel that transports blood from the capillaries back to the heart.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vein”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vena. 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- / vein

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