Etymograph

English

viruela

Viruela comes from Spanish viruela ‘any of the fluid-filled blisters caused by…’, from Late Latin variola ‘an infectious disease causing pustules’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘to be/become empty’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weh₂-1‘to be/become empty’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wasios1uncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvarius2‘speckled, variegated’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEvariola2‘an infectious disease causing pustules’
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentviruela3‘any of the fluid-filled blisters caused by smallpox’
  6. Englishtodayviruela3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin varius
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Spanish viruela
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English viruela

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁weh₂-Wiktionary, Latin varius‘to be/become empty’uncertain
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wasiosWiktionary, Latin variusuncertain
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvariusWiktionary, Spanish viruela‘speckled, variegated’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEvariolaWiktionary, Spanish viruela‘an infectious disease causing pustules’
  5. Spanishc. 1500–presentviruelaWiktionary, English viruela‘any of the fluid-filled blisters caused by smallpox’
  6. EnglishtodayviruelaWiktionary, English viruela

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- ‘to be/become empty’

want, waste, vast, vacation, void, vacant, vain, vanity, evacuate, vanish, vacate, waning, wane, vacuous, evanescent, 25 more

through Latin varius ‘speckled, variegated’

various, variety, vary, variable, variation, variant, 8 more

through Late Latin variola ‘an infectious disease causing pustules’

varicella, 3 more

Today it means

noun Synonym of apricot pseudopox (“a disease of apricots”).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “viruela”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin varius, Spanish viruela. 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 *h₁weh₂- / viruela

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