Etymograph

English

vendange

Vendange comes from Old French vendenge ‘vintage’, from Latin dēmō ‘to remove, take away, or subtract’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- ‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-1‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyh₁ō1‘wine’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīnom1‘wine’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīnum1‘wine’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēmō1‘to remove, take away, or subtract’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindēmia2‘a grape-gathering, vintage’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vendenge2‘vintage’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentvendange3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1978vendange3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vindemia
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French vendange
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English vendange
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet): “‘I could, of course, stay until after the vendanges,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-Wiktionary, Latin vindemia‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyh₁ōWiktionary, Latin vindemia‘wine’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīnomWiktionary, Latin vindemia‘wine’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīnumWiktionary, Latin vindemia‘wine’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdēmōWiktionary, Latin vindemia‘to remove, take away, or subtract’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindēmiaWiktionary, French vendange‘a grape-gathering, vintage’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vendengeWiktionary, French vendange‘vintage’
  8. Frenchc. 1600–presentvendangeWiktionary, English vendange
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1978vendangeWiktionary, English vendange. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Lawrence Durrell, Livia (Avignon Quintet): “‘I could, of course, stay until after the vendanges,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- ‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’

with, weak, wire, novel, iris, vise, vetch, 28 more

through Latin vīnum ‘wine’

wine, vinyl, vine, vino, vignette, 17 more

through Latin vindēmia ‘a grape-gathering, vintage’

vintage, 1 more

Today it means

noun The annual grape harvest, especially in France.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vendange”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin vindemia, French vendange. 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 *weh₁y- / vendange

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