Etymograph

English

visitation

Visitation comes from Latin vīsitātiō ‘visit’, from vīsitō ‘to go to see’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weyd-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-1‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéydseti1‘to want to see’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weidsō1‘to go to see, intend to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsō1
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsitō2‘to go to see’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsitātiō3‘visit’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400visitacion3
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400visitacioun3
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1834visitation3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin visito
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin visitatio
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English visitation
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “But when the blow comes down in the fulness…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyd-Wiktionary, Latin visito‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéydsetiWiktionary, Latin visito‘to want to see’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*weidsōWiktionary, Latin visito‘to go to see, intend to see’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsōWiktionary, Latin visito
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsitōWiktionary, Latin visitatio‘to go to see’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīsitātiōWiktionary, English visitation‘visit’
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400visitacionWiktionary, English visitation
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400visitaciounWiktionary, English visitation
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1834visitationWiktionary, English visitation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “But when the blow comes down in the fulness…”

Equivalent to visit + -ation

Proto-Indo-European *weyd- ‘to see’

…

Latin vīsō ‘behold’

Latin vīsitō ‘to see’

Old French visiter

Middle English visiten

English visit

Linked words

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

story, guy, idea, video, provide, evidence, review, guide, interview, advice, witness, historic, wise, wisdom, idol, wizard, evident, vision, historian, advise, wit, visa, invisible, prudent, witty, steroid, guise, visibility, vista, tabloid, prudence, revue, druid, envious, vide, improvise, purview, voyeur, hypothyroidism, purveyor, 117 more

through Latin vīsō

revise, avis, 4 more

Today it means

noun The act of visiting, or an instance of being visited.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “visitation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin visito, Latin visitatio. 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- / visitation

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