éviter (French)

Where does "éviter" come from?

The French verb 'éviter', meaning to avoid, dodge, shun, bypass, or avert, was borrowed from the Latin verb 'ēvītāre'[1]. This Latin term is formed from the prefix 'ex-' combined with 'vītō'[2]. The deeper origins of 'vītō' remain uncertain, with scholars proposing various etymologies linked to reconstructed roots like Proto-Indo-European 'weyh₁-' meaning to chase or pursue, 'weyk-' meaning to yield, or 'h₁weydʰh₁-' meaning to separate[3].

Open questions

• The ultimate origin of the Latin root vītō is disputed, with multiple competing hypotheses pointing to different Proto-Indo-European roots. [3]

Full etymology tree

• éviter (French), 'to avoid'
  • borrowed evitare (Latin), 'inflection of ēvītō:'
    • prefix ex- (Latin), 'out, away'
    • derived vito (Latin), 'to avoid, evade'

Ancestors

• evito (Latin)

Descendants and derived words

• évitement (French)

Sources

1. éviter (French) - Wiktionary
2. evito (Latin) - Wiktionary
3. vito (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. h₁weydʰh₁- (Proto-Indo-European) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

More words starting with E

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris