English
vocalese
Vocalese comes from Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-1‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs1‘voice, speech’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks1‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx1‘voice’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālis1‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocal1
- English1500–presentvocal1
- Englishtodayvocalese1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English vocalese
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-Wiktionary, English vocalese‘to speak, to sound out’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷsWiktionary, English vocalese‘voice, speech’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōksWiktionary, English vocalese‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōxWiktionary, English vocalese‘voice’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcālisWiktionary, English vocalese‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vocalWiktionary, English vocalese
- English1500–presentvocalWiktionary, English vocalese
- EnglishtodayvocaleseWiktionary, English vocalese
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak, to sound out’
epic, wight, whit, epos, 33 more
through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’
through Latin vōx ‘voice’
voice, invite, invitation, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 26 more
through Latin vōcālis ‘uttering a voice, having a voice’
Today it means
noun Jazz singing genre where the lyrics are written to melodies that were originally parts of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “vocalese”. 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 *wekʷ- / vocalese