Where does “convulse” come from?
Convulse comes from Latin convulsus, the past participle of convellere, meaning to pull or tear apart, formed from the prefix con- and the verb vellere.
convulse (English): To violently shake or agitate; To create great...
Definitions
- To violently shake or agitate; To create great...
Ancestry of “convulse”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Latin | convulsus | shattered, battered, convulsed; overthrown |
| 2 | Latin | convellere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 3 | Latin | convello | I shatter, batter, convulse; I overthrow |
| 4 | Latin | vello | I pluck out; I depilate; I pull or tear down; I... |
| 5 | Proto-Italic | welnō | to pull, tear |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | welh₃- | to hit, to strike |