Etymograph

English

vertebre

Vertebre comes from French vertebre ‘vertebra’, from Latin vertō ‘to turn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wert-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-1‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetor1‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertō1‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertō1‘to turn’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertebra2‘a joint, vertebra of the spine’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentvertebre2‘vertebra’
  7. Englishtodayvertebre2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vertebra
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vertebre

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wert-Wiktionary, Latin vertebra‘to turn, to rotate, spin’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wértetorWiktionary, Latin vertebra‘to turn, be turning’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wertōWiktionary, Latin vertebra‘to turn’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertōWiktionary, Latin vertebra‘to turn’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvertebraWiktionary, English vertebre‘a joint, vertebra of the spine’
  6. Frenchc. 1600–presentvertebreWiktionary, English vertebre‘vertebra’
  7. EnglishtodayvertebreWiktionary, English vertebre

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wert- ‘to turn, to rotate, spin’

word, worth, weird, ridiculous, universe, ridicule, derision, wurst, deride, invert, derisive, extraversion, 58 more

through Proto-Italic *wertō ‘to turn’

adverse, diversion, inverse, transverse, inversion, aversion, perverse, averse, perversion, reversion, 41 more

through Latin vertō ‘to turn’

university, version, conversation, divorce, diversity, versus, diverse, verse, vertical, advertisement, versatile, convertible, vortex, adversity, diversification, advert, divert, pervert, vertigo, revert, avert, introvert, subvert, verso, perversity, evert, 50 more

Today it means

noun A joint of the back.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vertebre”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vertebra. 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 *wert- / vertebre

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