évolution (French)
Where does "évolution" come from?
The French word 'évolution' traces its deep roots back to the Proto-Indo-European *welH-, meaning 'to roll' or 'to turn.' It evolved into the Latin 'evolutio,' which originally described the act of unrolling a scroll to read it, before finally being adopted into French as a term representing the broader process of unfolding or developing over time.
Full etymology tree
- évolution (French), 'evolution'
- inherited ēvolūtiō (Latin), 'The act of unrolling or opening a book; reading.'
- derived ēvolvere (Latin), 'inflection of ēvolvō:'
- compound ē- (Latin), 'alternative form of ex- (combining with b-, d-, g-, j-, l-, m-, n-, r-, and v-initial words)'
- compound volvō (Latin), 'to roll, tumble'
- inherited *wolwō (Proto-Italic)
- inherited *welH- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to roll, to undulate'
- inherited *wolwō (Proto-Italic)
- suffix -tiō (Latin), '-tion, -ation, -ing; suffixed to verbs to form action nouns denoting a process, action, or result of an action.'
- derived ēvolvere (Latin), 'inflection of ēvolvō:'
- inherited ēvolūtiō (Latin), 'The act of unrolling or opening a book; reading.'
Ancestors
- evolutio (Latin)
Updated July 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris