Etymograph

English

vespine

Vespine comes from Latin vespa ‘wasp (insect)’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to weave’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*webʰ-1‘to weave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wóbʰseh₂1‘wasp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wospā1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvespa2‘wasp (insect)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2004vespine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vespa
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vespine
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, China Miéville: “Ori braced himself, dropped with a cry when a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*webʰ-Wiktionary, Latin vespa‘to weave’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wóbʰseh₂Wiktionary, Latin vespa‘wasp’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wospāWiktionary, Latin vespareconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvespaWiktionary, English vespine‘wasp (insect)’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2004vespineWiktionary, English vespine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, China Miéville: “Ori braced himself, dropped with a cry when a…”

Formed from vespa + -ine

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- ‘to weave’

web, wave, waffle, weave, whiff, woof, weft, 4 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wóbʰseh₂ ‘wasp’

wasp, 2 more

Today it means

adj Of, relating to, or characteristic of wasps.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vespine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vespa. 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 *webʰ- / vespine

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