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aveho

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word aveho

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*ueǵʰ-e/o-)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin veho
Latin conveho
Latin reveho
Latin aveho
Latin eveho
Latin vector
English vector
Latin deveho
Latin subveho
Latin vecto
Latin vehiculum
French véhicule
English vehicle

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈaː.we.(ɦ)oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈaː.ve.o][1]

Forms

āvehō (present infinitive āvehere, perfect active āvē̆xī, supine āvectum); third conjugation[1] Manuscripts also spell it abveho.[2] Plautus has the short perfect avexti for avexisti.[2]

Etymology

It is from Latin ab- + vehō (“to carry, convey”).[3][1][2] De Vaan traces vehō to Proto-Italic *weχ-e/o- and Proto-Indo-European *ueǵʰ-e/o- (“to carry”), comparing Umbrian ařveitu (“let him add”), Sanskrit वहति (váhati, “to carry, convey”) and Lithuanian vèžti (“to convey”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first quotations are in Plautus: in the Miles Gloriosus a slave knows that his master's mistress was carried off from Athens, and in the Cistellaria a woman has gone away abroad to live.[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

It is to carry away or off, of people and of things: Caesar has the enemy shipping away what grain they could at short notice.[3] In the passive it means to go away, depart, and of riders and drivers to ride or drive off: in Propertius Cynthia drives away behind clipped ponies.[3] Lewis & Short say it is used of chariots, ships and horses, is classical but perhaps not found in Cicero, and has auferō as a synonym.[2] Ancient glosses explain it by ⟨exportat⟩ and ⟨asportavit⟩.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of a woman carried off from Athens.[3][5]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar of grain shipped away.[3][5]
  • 57/46–12 BC – Propertius of Cynthia driving away.[3][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To convey away, carry off (people or things).[3][2][1]
  2. (passive) To go away, depart; to ride or drive off.[3][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
Cite this entry

“Aveho.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/aveho. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·