Etymograph

English

verbosity

Verbosity comes from Late Latin verbōsitās ‘verbosity, wordiness’, from Latin 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‘verbose’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEverbōsitās5‘verbosity, wordiness’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600verbosité5
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2016verbosity5

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, Latin verbositas
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English verbosity
  6. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2016, Marwan Bishara, Why Obama fails the leadership test in the Middle East: “With Christie's words about "all-talk-no-action" in mind, notice that…”.

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, Latin verbositas‘verbose’
  6. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEverbōsitāsWiktionary, English verbosity‘verbosity, wordiness’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600verbositéWiktionary, English verbosity
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2016verbosityWiktionary, English verbosity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2016, Marwan Bishara, Why Obama fails the leadership test in the Middle East: “With Christie's words about "all-talk-no-action" in mind, notice that…”

Equivalent to verbose + -ity

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

Proto-Indo-European *werdʰom ‘word’

Proto-Italic *werðom ‘word’

Latin verbum ‘word’

Latin verbōsus ‘prolix, wordy, verbose’

English verbose

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

noun The excess use of words, especially using more than are needed for clarity or precision.

Sources

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

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