English
vindication
Vindication may come from Old French vindication ‘revenge, vengeance’, from Latin vindicātiō ‘avenging’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to pursue’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHs2‘force, strength’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīs2‘strength, force, power’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvim2
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcere2
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindex2‘defender, protector’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindicō3‘to protect someone from’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindicātiō4‘avenging’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vindication4‘revenge, vengeance’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vendicacion4
- Englishearliest quotation 1613vindication4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin vindico
- 3 Wiktionary, Latin vindicatio
- 4 Wiktionary, English vindication
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1613, Antony Sherley [i.e., Anthony Shirley]: “[T]he peoples affection binding it ſelfe to their redeemer;…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs‘to pursue’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHsWiktionary, Latin vindico‘force, strength’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīsWiktionary, Latin vindico‘strength, force, power’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvimWiktionary, Latin vindico
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīcereWiktionary, Latin vindico
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindexWiktionary, Latin vindico‘defender, protector’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindicōWiktionary, Latin vindicatio‘to protect someone from’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvindicātiōWiktionary, English vindication‘avenging’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400vindicationWiktionary, English vindication‘revenge, vengeance’uncertain
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vendicacionWiktionary, English vindication
- Englishearliest quotation 1613vindicationWiktionary, English vindication. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1613, Antony Sherley [i.e., Anthony Shirley]: “[T]he peoples affection binding it ſelfe to their redeemer;…”
The story
From Late Middle English vendicacion, vyndicacion, vyndycacion (‘assertion of a claim’), from Old French vindication (‘revenge, vengeance’) (modern dialectal French vindication), or from Medieval Latin vendicātio, both from Latin vindicātiō (‘avenging; defence, protection, vindication; punishment; etc.’), from vindicō (‘to avenge; to take revenge on; to protect from; etc.’) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns from verbs, denoting processes, actions, or results of actions). Vindicō is derived from vindex (‘claimant, vindicator; defender, protector’) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs); and vindex from vim (the accusative singular form of vīs (‘force; power, strength; etc.’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- (‘to chase, pursue; to persecute; to suppress’)) + dīcere (the present active infinitive of dīcō (‘to declare, state; to refer to; to say, talk; etc.’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (‘to point out, show’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to pursue’
previous, obvious, virtual, voyage, inevitable, virtue, convey, trivial, envoy, trivia, virtuous, deviant, wer, virtuoso, venison, deviation, ochre, viaduct, virile, virility, virago, trivium, obviate, 51 more
through Proto-Italic *wīs ‘strength, force, power’
violent, violation, violate, vis, inviolable, violator, 9 more
through Latin vim
through Latin vindex ‘defender, protector’
through Latin vindicō ‘to protect someone from’
Today it means
noun An act of asserting or maintaining; an assertion.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “vindication”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *wéyHs, Latin vindico, Latin vindicatio. 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- / vindication