Etymograph

English

vrille

Vrille comes from French vrille ‘tendril’, from Vulgar Latin *vĭtīcula ‘little vine’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- ‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-1‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéh₁itis1‘that which twines or bends’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wītis1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvītis1‘vine’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vĭtīcula2‘little vine’reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400verille2
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentvrille3‘tendril’
  8. Englishtodayvrille3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin viticula
  2. 2 Wiktionary, French vrille
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English vrille

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weh₁y-Wiktionary, Latin viticula‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wéh₁itisWiktionary, Latin viticula‘that which twines or bends’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wītisWiktionary, Latin viticulareconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvītisWiktionary, Latin viticula‘vine’
  5. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vĭtīculaWiktionary, French vrille‘little vine’reconstructed
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400verilleWiktionary, French vrille
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentvrilleWiktionary, English vrille‘tendril’
  8. EnglishtodayvrilleWiktionary, English vrille

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *weh₁y- ‘to twist, wind, weave, plait’

with, wine, weak, wire, vinyl, vine, iris, vino, vignette, vetch, 27 more

through Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis ‘that which twines or bends’

withe, 3 more

through Proto-Italic *wītis

novella, 2 more

through Latin vītis ‘vine’

novel, vise, 3 more

Today it means

noun A tailspin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “vrille”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin viticula, French vrille. 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 *weh₁y- / vrille

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