Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Vaucluse” come from?

Vaucluse comes from French Vaucluse, from Latin Vallis Clausa meaning "closed valley," from Latin clausa, the feminine past participle of claudere meaning "to close," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European wel-.

Ancestry of “Vaucluse”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchVaucluse—
2LatinVallis Clausaclosed valley
3Latinvallisvalley, vale; hollow; dative plural of vāllum
4Proto-Indo-EuropeanwēlH-—
5Proto-Indo-EuropeanwelH-to turn, to wind
Every word from Proto-Indo-European welH- →