Etymologically
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visit

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈvɪz.ɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English visiten, borrowed from Old French visiter (“to visit; to inspect; to afflict”) and directly borrowed from Latin vīsitāre (“to go to see, come to inspect”),[2][3][4] a frequentative of vīsere (“to look at, go to see”),[2][4] from vīs-, the past participle stem of vidēre (“to see”),[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *weid- (“to see”),[2][4] the root also of wit.[3][5] The SOED notes that the early senses follow those of Late Latin visitāre in the Vulgate.[6] The noun comes from the verb, and partly from French visite.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

“To come to a person to comfort or benefit them”, originally often of God: probably before 1200, in the Ancrene Riwle,[3] or the early 13th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

“To go to see a person in distress or illness” is from about 1250,[3] and “to call on socially” from before 1300.[3] The general sense “to come or go to see” is from the mid-13th century,[2] and visiting a place for pleasure or business from about 1400.[3] “To come upon, afflict”, as of sickness or punishment, is from 1424,[3] and Hoad gives the 14th century.[7] The noun, a friendly or formal call, is from 1621,[8][3][9] pay a visit from the 1650s,[2] a doctor's professional call from 1719,[8][2] a sightseeing trip from 1800,[8][2] and a visit to a doctor or dentist from 1884.[8][2] The noun visiting is older in this sense, from the early 14th century.[2]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – to come to comfort.[3]
  • c. 1250 – to visit the sick.[3]
  • before 1300 – to call on socially.[3]
  • c. 1400 – to visit a place.[3]
  • 1424 – to afflict.[3]
  • 1621 – noun, a call.[8]
  • 1719 – a doctor's visit.[8]
  • 1800 – a sightseeing trip.[8]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To go to see a person or place for social, business or other reasons.
  2. To stay with as a guest.
  3. To come upon or afflict: visited by plague.

Noun

  1. An act of visiting; a stay or call.
  2. A professional call, as by a doctor.
  3. A trip to a place: a visit to Rome.

Word family

  • intervisit
  • previsit
  • visitable
  • visitation
  • visitor
  • state visit

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster