Etymograph

English

visit

Visit comes from Latin vīsitō ‘to see’, from vīsō ‘behold, survey’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yeti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēō2‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideō3‘see’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsō3‘behold’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsitō3‘to see’frequentative of vīsō
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400visiter3
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500visiten3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611visit3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English visit
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “[God] hath visited and redeemed his people.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēō‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*widéh₁yetiWiktionary, Proto-Italic *widēōreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*widēōWiktionary, Latin video, which cites LIV‘to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvideōWiktionary, English visit‘see’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsōWiktionary, English visit‘behold’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsitōWiktionary, English visit‘to see’frequentative of vīsō
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400visiterWiktionary, English visit
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500visitenWiktionary, English visit
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1611visitWiktionary, English visit. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “[God] hath visited and redeemed his people.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’

story, guy, idea, guide, advice, witness, historic, wise, wisdom, idol, wizard, historian, wit, advise, steroid, witty, tabloid, guise, revue, druid, envious, improvise, hypothyroidism, envision, idyll, twit, parathyroid, trapezoid, hyoid, hyperthyroidism, colloid, witter, weet, thyroxine, sigmoid, thyroiditis, 92 more

through Proto-Indo-European *widéh₁yeti

providential, 12 more

through Proto-Italic *widēō ‘to see’

providence, provision, revision, prudential, jurisprudence, provident, vada, invisibility, evidential, 14 more

through Latin videō ‘see’

video, evidence, provide, review, interview, vision, evident, invisible, visa, prudent, vista, prudence, visibility, voyeur, purview, vide, purveyor, proviso, invidious, 18 more

through Latin vīsō ‘behold, survey’

revise, avis, 4 more

Today it means

verb To habitually go to (someone in distress, sickness etc.) to comfort them. (Now generally merged into later senses, below.)

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “visit”; 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- / visit

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