Where does “vitriol” come from?
Vitriol comes from Old French vitriol, from Latin vitriolum, from Latin vitrum meaning "glass," tracing back through Proto-Italic wedro- to Proto-Indo-European wed-ro- and ultimately to the root wed-.
vitriol (English): Sulphuric acid and various metal sulphates;...
Definitions
- Sulphuric acid and various metal sulphates;...
Ancestry of “vitriol”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | vitriol | — |
| 2 | Latin | vitriolum | vitriol |
| 3 | Latin | vitrum | glass; a woad; a plant used for dying blue; woad;... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | wedrom | glass |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | wedro- | water-like |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wed- | water |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wey- | to wither; fade; to move, go ahead; to be strong;... |
Words derived from “vitriol”