Etymograph

English

vitriol

Vitriol comes from Medieval Latin vitriolum ‘sulfuric acid’, from vitrum ‘glass’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-1‘water’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-ro-m1literally ‘water-like’uncertain
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500vitrum2‘glass’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500vitriolum2‘sulfuric acid’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vitriol2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vitriol2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1807vitriol2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vitrum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vitriol
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1807, A New and Complete Encyclopaedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Vol III: “CRYSTALS of Venus or of copper, called also vitriol…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-Wiktionary, Latin vitrum‘water’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wed-ro-mWiktionary, Latin vitrumliterally ‘water-like’uncertain
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500vitrumWiktionary, English vitriol‘glass’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500vitriolumWiktionary, English vitriol‘sulfuric acid’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400vitriolWiktionary, English vitriol
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vitriolWiktionary, English vitriol
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1807vitriolWiktionary, English vitriol. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1807, A New and Complete Encyclopaedia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Vol III: “CRYSTALS of Venus or of copper, called also vitriol…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wed- ‘water’

water, wet, wash, und, abundance, vodka, surround, abundant, hydro, redundant, otter, hydrate, aldehyde, hydride, vedra, inundate, undine, 44 more

through Medieval Latin vitrum ‘glass’

vitreous, 13 more

Today it means

noun Any of various metal sulphates.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vitriol”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vitrum. 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 *wed- / vitriol

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