Etymograph

English

veve

Veve comes from Haitian Creole vèvè, from Portuguese viver ‘to live’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷeyh₃-1‘to live’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷih₃wós1‘alive, living’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷíh₃weti2‘to live, be alive’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷīwō2‘to live, to be alive’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvere2
  6. Old Galician-Portuguesec. 1100–1500viver2
  7. Portuguesec. 1500–presentviver3‘to live’
  8. Haitian Creolemodernvèvè3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1953veve3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Portuguese viver
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English veve
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1953, a Deren, Divine Horsemen: “The vever, as a cabbala-like method of invoking the…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷeyh₃-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti‘to live’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷih₃wósWiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti‘alive, living’uncertain
  3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷíh₃wetiWiktionary, Portuguese viver‘to live, be alive’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*gʷīwōWiktionary, Portuguese viver‘to live, to be alive’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīvereWiktionary, Portuguese viver
  6. Old Galician-Portuguesec. 1100–1500viverWiktionary, Portuguese viver
  7. Portuguesec. 1500–presentviverWiktionary, English veve‘to live’
  8. Haitian CreolemodernvèvèWiktionary, English veve
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1953veveWiktionary, English veve. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1953, a Deren, Divine Horsemen: “The vever, as a cabbala-like method of invoking the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷeyh₃- ‘to live’

biology, kidney, vitamin, viable, hygiene, vitality, zodiac, revive, anaerobic, quicken, quickness, quicksilver, biogenesis, wyvern, 56 more

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós ‘alive, living’

quick, couch, vive, 32 more

through Proto-Italic *gʷīwō ‘to live, to be alive’

vital, vivid, vivacious, convivial, vivacity, 13 more

Today it means

noun Any of various symbols, like line diagrams, that have religious significance in voodoo, serving as a representation of the loa.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “veve”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *gʷíh₃weti, Portuguese viver. 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 *gʷeyh₃- / veve

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