English
volvulus
Volvulus comes from Late Latin volvulus ‘tending to roll’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *welH-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-1‘to roll, to undulate’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwō1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvō1‘I roll’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEvolvulus2‘tending to roll’
- Englishearliest quotation 2015volvulus2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin volvulus
- 2 Wiktionary, English volvulus
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Pierre Goubault et al., Gallbladder torsion within incisional hernia: an original ch: “Only one case of gallbladder volvulus within an incisional…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welH-Wiktionary, Latin volvulus‘to roll, to undulate’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wolwōWiktionary, Latin volvulusreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvolvōWiktionary, Latin volvulus‘I roll’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEvolvulusWiktionary, English volvulus‘tending to roll’
- Englishearliest quotation 2015volvulusWiktionary, English volvulus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2015, Pierre Goubault et al., Gallbladder torsion within incisional hernia: an original ch: “Only one case of gallbladder volvulus within an incisional…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *welH- ‘to roll, to undulate’
well, walk, wall, valve, waltz, helix, vulgar, vagrant, wale, divulge, gauche, iliac, ilium, vulgate, valise, valvular, 70 more
through Proto-Italic *wolwō
revolve, devolution, devolve, convolutional, 39 more
through Latin volvō ‘I roll’
volume, revolution, evolution, involve, vault, revolt, evolve, convoluted, voluminous, vulva, convolution, involution, voluble, 43 more
Today it means
noun Obstruction of the bowel in which a loop of bowel has abnormally twisted on itself.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “volvulus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin volvulus. 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- / volvulus