Etymograph

English

video

Video comes from Latin videō ‘to see’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēō1‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideō1‘to see’
  5. Englishtodayvideo1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English video

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, English video‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yetiWiktionary, English videoreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēōWiktionary, English video‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideōWiktionary, English video‘to see’
  5. EnglishtodayvideoWiktionary, English video

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with video, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’

  • story ← storie ← estorie ← estoire ← historia
  • guy ← guie ← *wītan ← *wītaną
  • idea ← ῐ̓δέᾱ ← ῐ̓δεῖν
  • advice ← avys ← avis ← vis ← vīsus
  • witness ← witnesse ← ġewitnes
  • wise ← wys ← wīs ← *wīsaz ← *weyd-s-ós
  • historic ← historicus ← historia ← ῐ̔στορῐ́ᾱ ← ῐ̔στορέω
  • wisdom ← *wīsadōm ← *wīsadōmaz ← *wīsaz ← *weyd-s-ós
  • guide ← guida ← guidar ← *wītan ← *wītaną
  • wit ← witt ← *witi ← *witją ← *witaną
  • wizard ← wysard
  • historian ← historien ← historia ← ἱστορία ← ἱστορέω

193 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun Transient visual content or media, processed with technology, especially electronic.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “video”. 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 *weyd- / video