Where does “viscous” come from?

Viscous comes from Middle French visqueux, from Latin viscum meaning birdlime, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European weyḱs-.

viscous (English): Having a thick, sticky consistency between solid...

Definitions

  1. Having a thick, sticky consistency between solid...

Ancestry of “viscous”, step by step

viscous traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle French visqueux

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchvisqueuxviscous
2Old Frenchviscousviscous (of a liquid, thick; tending to flow slowly)
3Late Latinviscosus—
4Latinviscummistletoe; birdlime made from this plant
5Latinvorōto devour; to eat greedily
6Latinvotodative/ablative masculine/neuter singular of...
7Proto-Italicwetā(je)-—
8Proto-Indo-Europeanweth₂-to say

via Latin viscōsus

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinviscōsusfull of birdlime, viscous, sticky
2Latin-ōsusose, -ous, -ful (full of or overly prone to)
3Old Latin-ōssus—

Words derived from “viscous”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European weth₂- →