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evasio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word evasio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
220 after 220 AD, Itala More words from the 3rd century
Ultimate origin
Latin ēvādō
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin vādō
Latin ēvādō
Spanish evadir
Latin ēvāsiō
English evasion
From the same root
Latin invādō ← vādō
Latin pervādō ← vādō
English evade ← ēvādō

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [eːˈwaː.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [eˈvaː.s̬i.o][1]

Forms

ēvāsiō f (genitive ēvāsiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin ēvādō (“to escape”) + -tiō.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's first instance is in the Old Latin Bible (the Itala), in the Second Letter of Peter, where it means escape.[2] The Itala dates from after 220 AD.[4]

Semantic evolution

It remained a word of Christian and later Latin, meaning flight or rescue by flight;[2] the Vulgate has it in the Book of Judith.[2][3]

Medieval writers used it for an escape from danger or from damnation,[5][6] for recovery from illness, and for a way out; in alchemy it could mean evaporation.[7] English borrowed evasion in the 15th century, first meaning “a way out”.[8]

Timeline

  • after 220 AD – The Itala uses it of escape.[2][4]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Book of Judith.[2][3][4]
  • 1236 – Grosseteste writes that escape seems difficult.[5]
  • early 15th century – English borrows it as evasioun.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An escape, flight; rescue.[2][6][9]
  2. A going out.[3][9]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Recovery from illness; a way out.[7]
  4. (Medieval Latin, alchemy) Evaporation.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b 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
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Evasio.” Etymologically, 7 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/evasio. Accessed 8 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·