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evanesco

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word evanesco

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
190–159 BC, Terence
Ultimate origin
Latin (vānus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vanus
Latin vanitas
Latin vanesco
Latin evanesco

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eː.waːˈneːs.koː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [e.vaˈnɛs.ko][1]

Forms

ēvānēscō (present infinitive ēvānēscere, perfect active ēvānuī); third conjugation, no passive, no supine stem[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + vānēscō (“to vanish”),[2][1] an inchoative of vānus (“empty”).[3][4] De Vaan traces that adjective to Proto-Italic *wāno- or Proto-Italic *wā̆sno-, and compares Sanskrit वायति (vā́yati, “to disappear”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In a prologue of Terence, someone fears that a play's text might vanish together with its poet.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to vanish, fade away, cease to be perceived: Varro writes of the time before the frost has gone, and Lucretius of the scent of wine vanishing and of colour fading.[2][6] It is also to lose strength, as wine or salted fish that grow weak with age in Cicero.[2] Of abstract things it is to disappear or die out, and in law, as in Gaius, a legacy lapses or becomes void.[2] Lactantius has a future participle ēvānitūrus.[6][3] Church Latin also uses it of becoming vapid, and of dying.[7] English evanesce dates from 1817.[4]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence of writing vanishing.[2]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro of frost.[2]
  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius of scent and colour.[6]
  • 140–180 AD – Gaius of a legacy that lapses.[2]
  • 1817 – English evanesce.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To vanish, fade away, disappear.[2][6][1][7]
  2. To lose strength; to become vapid.[2][7]
  3. Of abstract things, to die out;[2][1] (law) to become void, lapse.[2][1]
  • ēvānidus
  • vānus
  • English evanesce

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Evanesco.” Etymologically, 20 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/evanesco. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·