Etymograph

English

volvulate

Volvulate comes from Latin volvō ‘to twist round’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *welH-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-1‘to turn, wind, round’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvō2as volvere‘to twist round’
  4. Englishtodayvolvulate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin volvo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English volvulate

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-Wiktionary, Latin volvo‘to turn, wind, round’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwōWiktionary, Latin volvoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvōWiktionary, English volvulateas volvere‘to twist round’
  4. EnglishtodayvolvulateWiktionary, English volvulate

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to turn, wind, round’

well, walk, wall, valve, waltz, helix, vulgar, vagrant, wale, divulge, gauche, iliac, ilium, valise, vulgate, valvular, 70 more

through Proto-Italic *wolwō

devolution, revolve, devolve, convolutional, 39 more

through Latin volvō ‘to twist round’

volume, revolution, evolution, involve, vault, revolt, evolve, convoluted, voluminous, convolution, vulva, involution, voluble, 43 more

Today it means

verb To twist or form a knot: to undergo volvulus.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “volvulate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin volvo. 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 *welH- / volvulate

Shirt and support for this word