Etymograph

English

voice

Voice comes from Middle English voice, from Anglo-Norman voiz, from Latin vōx ‘voice’ (accusative vōcem), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wṓkʷs.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-1‘to speak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs1‘speech’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx2
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcem2accusative form of vōx
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400voiz2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500voice2
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606voice2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin vox
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English voice
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “Her voice was euer ſoft, Gentle, and low, an…”.

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’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōksWiktionary, Latin voxreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōxWiktionary, English voice
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōcemWiktionary, English voiceaccusative form of vōx
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400voizWiktionary, English voice
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500voiceWiktionary, English voice
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606voiceWiktionary, English voice. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “Her voice was euer ſoft, Gentle, and low, an…”

Linked words

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

epic, wight, whit, epos, 31 more

through Proto-Italic *wōks

vocalist, vocally, vocalize, 27 more

through Latin vōx

invite, invitation, vocal, vie, invoke, vox, vouch, invocation, vociferous, 26 more

Another origin of voice

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘voice, speech’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōksreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400voiz
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500voys‘the voice of a particular person’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500voysen‘to have a specified type of voice or speech’
  8. Englishtodayvoice

Today it means

noun Sound uttered by the mouth, especially by human beings in speech or song; sound thus uttered considered as possessing some special quality or character.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “voice”; 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- / voice

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