Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “provoke” come from?

Provoke comes from Middle French provoquer, from Latin provocare, meaning to call forth or challenge, derived from pro- (forward) and Latin pro combined with the root bʰuH- meaning to grow or swell, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European per-.

provoke (English): To cause someone to become annoyed or angry; To...

Definitions

  1. To cause someone to become annoyed or angry; To...

Ancestry of “provoke”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchprovoquer—
2Latinprōvocāre—

Words derived from “provoke”

  • provoking
  • provokingly
  • provoker
  • provoketh
  • provokest
  • unprovoking
  • provokable
  • provokingness
  • provokement
  • overprovoke
  • unprovoke
  • provokee
Every word from Latin prōvocāre →