Etymograph

English

vocule

Vocule comes from Latin vocula ‘a small or feeble voice’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-1‘to speak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs1‘speech, voice’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks1‘voice’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx2as vocis‘voice’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocula2‘a small or feeble voice’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1827vocule2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vox
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English vocule
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1827, James Rush: “The emphatic vocule denotes great energy of sentiment”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-Wiktionary, Latin vox‘to speak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷsWiktionary, Latin vox‘speech, voice’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōksWiktionary, Latin vox‘voice’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōxWiktionary, English voculeas vocis‘voice’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvoculaWiktionary, English vocule‘a small or feeble voice’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1827voculeWiktionary, English vocule. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1827, James Rush: “The emphatic vocule denotes great energy of sentiment”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak’

epic, wight, whit, epos, 29 more

through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’

vocalist, voiceless, vocally, vocalize, 25 more

through Latin vōx ‘voice’

voice, invite, invitation, vocal, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 25 more

Today it means

noun An emphatic aspiration or burst of air.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vocule”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin vox. 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- / vocule

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