Etymograph

English

vindical

Vindical comes from Latin vindex ‘avenger, punisher, revenger’, 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‘avenger, punisher, revenger’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1797vindical3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin vindex
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English vindical
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1797, Edmund Burke, A Letter from Mr. Burke to Dr. Huſſey: “The great point for you […] is to eſtabliſh…”.

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 vindical‘avenger, punisher, revenger’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1797vindicalWiktionary, English vindical. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1797, Edmund Burke, A Letter from Mr. Burke to Dr. Huſſey: “The great point for you […] is to eſtabliſh…”

Linked words

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

previous, obvious, virtual, voyage, convey, inevitable, virtue, envoy, trivial, trivia, deviation, virtuous, venison, wer, deviant, virtuoso, ochre, viaduct, virile, virility, trivium, virago, obviate, 51 more

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

violent, violation, violate, vis, violator, inviolable, 9 more

through Latin vim

vim, 8 more

through Latin vindex ‘avenger, punisher, revenger’

vengeance, avenge, 9 more

Today it means

adj Eager to punish; vindicative.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vindical”; 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- / vindical

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