English
velocity
Velocity comes from Latin vēlōcitās ‘speed’, from vēlōx ‘fast’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- ‘to blow’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂weh₁-1‘to blow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂weh₁-lo-1‘wind’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlōx2‘fast’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlōcitās2‘speed’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600vélocité2
- Englishearliest quotation 1997velocity2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin velox
- 2 Wiktionary, English velocity
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Thomas Pynchon, New York: Henry Holt and Company: “Over the winter-solid Roads, goes a great seething,— of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂weh₁-Wiktionary, Latin velox‘to blow’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂weh₁-lo-Wiktionary, Latin velox‘wind’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlōxWiktionary, English velocity‘fast’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvēlōcitāsWiktionary, English velocity‘speed’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600vélocitéWiktionary, English velocity
- Englishearliest quotation 1997velocityWiktionary, English velocity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1997, Thomas Pynchon, New York: Henry Holt and Company: “Over the winter-solid Roads, goes a great seething,— of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- ‘to blow’
event, winter, weather, wind, van, wing, athletic, athlete, ventilation, ventilate, 8 more
Today it means
noun A vector quantity that denotes the rate of change of position with respect to time, combining speed with a directional component.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “velocity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin velox. 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 *h₂weh₁- / velocity