English
visa
Visa comes from French visa ‘a travel visa’, from Latin charta vīsa ‘paper that has been seen’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘to see’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yeti1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēō2‘to see’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideo3as vidēre, feminine perfect passive‘to see’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharta vīsa3‘paper that has been seen’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentvisa3‘a travel visa’
- Englishearliest quotation 1867visa3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV
- 3 Wiktionary, English visa
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler: “Let me tell you that I am going to…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō‘to see’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yetiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēōreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēōWiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV‘to see’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideoWiktionary, English visaas vidēre, feminine perfect passive‘to see’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcharta vīsaWiktionary, English visa‘paper that has been seen’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentvisaWiktionary, English visa‘a travel visa’
- Englishearliest quotation 1867visaWiktionary, English visa. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1867, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Gambler: “Let me tell you that I am going to…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’
story, guy, idea, guide, advice, witness, historic, wise, wisdom, wit, idol, wizard, historian, witty, advise, steroid, tabloid, guise, revue, druid, envious, visitation, twit, envision, improvise, hypothyroidism, idyll, witter, parathyroid, trapezoid, hyoid, colloid, hyperthyroidism, weet, avis, sigmoid, thyroxine, thyroiditis, visite, 90 more
through Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti
through Proto-Italic *widēō ‘to see’
provision, providence, revision, prudential, jurisprudence, invisibility, provident, vada, evidential, 14 more
through Latin video ‘to see’
video, evidence, provide, review, interview, visit, vision, evident, invisible, prudent, visibility, prudence, vista, revise, voyeur, purview, purveyor, vide, proviso, invidious, 18 more
Today it means
noun A permit to enter and leave a country, normally issued by the authorities of the country to be visited.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “visa”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *widēō, Latin video. 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 *weyd- / visa