Etymologically
Log in

devasto

Etymology and origin of the Latin word devasto

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Livy
Ultimate origin
Latin (vāstus)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [deːˈwaːs.toː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [deˈvas.to][1]

Forms

dēvāstō (present infinitive dēvāstāre, perfect active dēvāstāvī, supine dēvāstātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from dē- “thoroughly” and vāstō “to lay waste”.[2][1][3][4] The Itala and the Vulgate have ⟨dīv-⟩.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis and Short call it rare and perhaps not before Augustus, and their earliest examples are from Livy, of laying waste territory.[5][6] Köbler dates Livy 59 BC–17 AD.[7]

Semantic evolution

It meant to lay waste territory, devastate, as Livy's ad dēvāstandōs fīnēs, and also a people, as the Marsi.[2][5][6] In Ovid it meant to ravage, slaughter, as the ranks of Sarpedon destroyed by Ulysses' sword.[2][6] Figuratively, in Valerius Maximus, it meant to destroy courage.[5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to devastate, lay waste.[8] It survives in Italian devastare and French dévaster, and Medieval Latin dēvāstātiō gave English devastation in the mid-15th century, from which English devastate was perhaps back-formed in the 1630s.[1][4]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it of laying waste land.[5][7]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of slaughtering ranks.[2][7]
  • mid-15th century – English devastation is recorded.[4]
  • 1630s – English devastate is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To lay waste, devastate.[2]
  2. To ravage, slaughter.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Devasto.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/devasto. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·