Etymograph

English

violation

Violation comes from Latin violātiō ‘injury, profanation’, from violō ‘to treat with violence’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyh₁- ‘to rush’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-1‘to rush’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHs1‘force, strength’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīs1‘strength, force, power’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīs2‘strength’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviolō3‘to treat with violence’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviolātiō3‘injury, profanation’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600violation3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2007violation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vis
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin violo
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English violation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Kelly Becker, Epistemic luck and the generality problem: “In this situation, the agent’s lack of knowledge is…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyh₁-Wiktionary, Latin vis‘to rush’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéyHsWiktionary, Latin vis‘force, strength’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wīsWiktionary, Latin vis‘strength, force, power’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsWiktionary, Latin violo‘strength’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviolōWiktionary, English violation‘to treat with violence’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEviolātiōWiktionary, English violation‘injury, profanation’
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600violationWiktionary, English violation
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2007violationWiktionary, English violation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2007, Kelly Becker, Epistemic luck and the generality problem: “In this situation, the agent’s lack of knowledge is…”

Linked words

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

previous, obvious, virtual, inevitable, voyage, virtue, convey, envoy, trivial, trivia, virtuous, wer, deviant, virtuoso, venison, ochre, deviation, viaduct, virile, virility, trivium, virago, obviate, 53 more

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

vengeance, avenge, vindication, 11 more

through Latin vīs ‘strength’

violent, vis, vim, 3 more

through Latin violō ‘to treat with violence’

inviolable, 2 more

Today it means

noun An infraction or a failure to follow a rule.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “violation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin vis, Latin violo. 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- / violation

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