Etymograph

English

verbose

Verbose comes from Latin verbōsus ‘prolix, wordy, verbose’, from verbum ‘word’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- ‘to speak, say’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werh₁-1‘to speak, say’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werdʰom2‘word’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*werðom2‘word’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEverbum3‘word’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEverbōsus4‘prolix, wordy, verbose’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1672verbose4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin verbum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin verbosus
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English verbose
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1672, William Penn, To the Impartial Reader: “I omit more than an Hundred Things, that would…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom‘to speak, say’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*werdʰomWiktionary, Latin verbum‘word’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*werðomWiktionary, Latin verbum‘word’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEverbumWiktionary, Latin verbosus‘word’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEverbōsusWiktionary, English verbose‘prolix, wordy, verbose’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1672verboseWiktionary, English verbose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1672, William Penn, To the Impartial Reader: “I omit more than an Hundred Things, that would…”

The story

Verbōsus is derived from verbum (‘word’) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- (‘to say, speak’)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly, prone to’ forming adjectives from nouns).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *werh₁- ‘to speak, say’

rhetoric, 18 more

through Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom ‘word’

word, 8 more

through Proto-Italic *werðom ‘word’

adverbial, 8 more

through Latin verbum ‘word’

verbal, verbatim, verve, adverb, 9 more

Today it means

adj Containing or using more words than necessary; long-winded, wordy.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “verbose”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom, Latin verbum, Latin verbosus. 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 *werh₁- / verbose

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