Etymograph

English

veracious

Veracious comes from Latin vērāx ‘truthful’, from vērus ‘true’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁-1‘true’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁ros2‘true’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wēros2‘true’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērus2‘true’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērāx1‘truthful’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1834veracious1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English veracious
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin verax
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “"It were against all rules, whether of history or…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁-Wiktionary, English veracious‘true’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁rosWiktionary, Latin verax‘true’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wērosWiktionary, Latin verax‘true’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērusWiktionary, Latin verax‘true’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvērāxWiktionary, English veracious‘truthful’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1834veraciousWiktionary, English veracious. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “"It were against all rules, whether of history or…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weh₁- ‘true’

warlock, veritable, 4 more

through Latin vērus ‘true’

verification, veritas, verity, aver, 6 more

through Latin vērāx ‘truthful’

very, verily, 1 more

Today it means

adj True.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “veracious”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin verax. 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 *weh₁- / veracious

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