Etymograph

English

veritable

Veritable comes from Middle French veritable ‘true’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁-1‘true’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveritabilis1
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veritable1‘true’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600veritable1‘true’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1942veritable1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English veritable
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1942, Alfred Gallinek, Psychogenic Disorders and the Civilization of the Middle Age: “The ideal man of the Middle Ages was free…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁-Wiktionary, English veritable‘true’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEveritabilisWiktionary, English veritable
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400veritableWiktionary, English veritable‘true’
  4. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600veritableWiktionary, English veritable‘true’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1942veritableWiktionary, English veritable. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1942, Alfred Gallinek, Psychogenic Disorders and the Civilization of the Middle Age: “The ideal man of the Middle Ages was free…”

Formed from verity + -able

Middle English verite

English verity

Linked words

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

very, warlock, veracity, aver, 5 more

Today it means

adj True; genuine.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “veritable”. 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- / veritable

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