Etymograph

English

vexel

Vexel comes from Latin vexō ‘shake’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-1‘to bring’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvexō2‘shake’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1915vexel2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vexo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vexel
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1915, Robert T. Morris, Educational Review ...: “[…] highly sensitized individuals of neurotic tendencies who manifest…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weǵʰ-Wiktionary, Latin vexo‘to bring’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvexōWiktionary, English vexel‘shake’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1915vexelWiktionary, English vexel. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1915, Robert T. Morris, Educational Review ...: “[…] highly sensitized individuals of neurotic tendencies who manifest…”

The story

Coined in the early 1900s by a trustee of Cornell University, from Latin vexō (‘shake’) and German wechseln (‘change’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ‘to bring’

way, always, via, vehicle, wave, reveal, halfway, weigh, wagon, wee, vector, vogue, wedge, vein, veil, headway, wag, wonky, eunuch, venous, wey, waw, wain, invective, vena, vexed, velar, 38 more

through Latin vexō ‘shake’

vex, 2 more

Today it means

noun A troublemaker, a person who wants to change things.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vexel”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vexo. 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 *weǵʰ- / vexel

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