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devexus

Etymology and origin of the Latin word devexus

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
Caesar
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European (*weǵʰ-)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [deːˈwɛk.sʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [deˈvɛk.sus][1]

Forms

dēvexus (feminine dēvexa, neuter dēvexum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from dēvehō “to carry down”, from dē- and vehō, formed like convexus.[2][3][1] De Vaan traces ⟨vehō⟩ to Proto-Italic *weχ-e/o-, Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ-e/o- (“to carry”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Caesar.[5] Köbler dates Caesar c. 50 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

Of places it meant sloping downwards or away, inclining, shelving, as in Cicero and Virgil, and in Virgil moving downhill, descending.[2][6] Lewis & Short compare its synonym dēclīvis.[7]

British Medieval Latin used it also as a noun for a slope, and for “brought low”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it.[5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it.[6][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of sloping and descending.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Sloping downwards, inclined.[2][7]
  2. Moving downhill, descending.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  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 e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Devexus.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/devexus. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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