Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Viagra” come from?

Viagra is a proprietary pharmaceutical term coined in English, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European weyh₁- meaning "to separate or divide."

Ancestry of “Viagra”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Sanskritव्याघ्रa tiger; any pre-eminently strong or noble...
2Proto-Indo-Aryanwyāgʰrás—
3Proto-Indo-Iranianwyāgʰrás—
Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian wyāgʰrás →