Etymograph

English

vindex

Vindex comes from Latin vindex ‘claimant, vindicator’, from dīcere ‘to indicate’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHs2‘force, strength’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīs2‘strength, force, power’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvim2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcere2‘to indicate’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindex3‘claimant, vindicator’
  7. Englishtodayvindex3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin vindex
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English vindex

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs‘to pursue’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHsWiktionary, Latin vindex‘force, strength’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīsWiktionary, Latin vindex‘strength, force, power’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvimWiktionary, Latin vindex
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcereWiktionary, Latin vindex‘to indicate’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindexWiktionary, English vindex‘claimant, vindicator’
  7. EnglishtodayvindexWiktionary, English vindex

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue’

previous, obvious, virtual, voyage, convey, inevitable, virtue, envoy, trivial, trivia, deviation, virtuous, venison, wer, virtuoso, ochre, deviant, viaduct, virile, virility, trivium, virago, obviate, 50 more

through Proto-Italic *wīs ‘strength, force, power’

violent, violation, violate, vis, violator, inviolable, 8 more

through Latin vim

vim, 7 more

through Latin vindex ‘claimant, vindicator’

vengeance, avenge, vindication, vindicate, 7 more

Today it means

noun An official who supervised tax collection in the ancient Roman Empire.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vindex”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs, Latin vindex. 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 *weyh₁- / vindex

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