Etymology

innovate

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Today it means: To alter, to change into something new; to revolutionize. Full definition →

Latin innovātus ← Proto-Italic *nowāō ← Proto-Indo-European *néweh₂ti
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₁én
  2. Proto-Italic*en
  3. Proto-Italic*en-
  4. Latinin-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*nu
  6. Proto-Indo-European*néwos
  7. Proto-Indo-European*néweh₂ti
  8. Proto-Italic*nowāō
  9. Latinnovō
  10. Latininnovō
  11. Latininnovātus
  12. English todayinnovate

First attested in 1548; borrowed from Latin innovātus, perfect passive participle of innovō (“to renew”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.