Etymograph

English

viverrine

Viverrine comes from Latin vīverra ‘ferret’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to burn’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-1‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīverra2‘ferret’
  3. Englishtodayviverrine2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin viverra
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English viverrine

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wer-Wiktionary, Latin viverra‘to burn’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvīverraWiktionary, English viverrine‘ferret’
  3. EnglishtodayviverrineWiktionary, English viverrine

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wer- ‘to burn’

wear, guard, ward, regard, con, garage, warn, worm, beware, optic, ware, weir, panorama, garrison, verge, reverence, wry, revere, prosaic, guaranty, diorama, vermilion, vermin, varmint, milliner, vermicelli, vermiculite, vermeil, 67 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to the mammals of the subfamily Viverrinae.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “viverrine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin viverra. 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 *wer- / viverrine

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