Etymology

nonviolence

N1O1N1V4I1O1L1E1N1C3E1

Today it means: A philosophy that rejects the use of violence, and instead seeks to bring about change through peaceful responses even to violent acts. Full definition →

English violence ← Middle English violence ← Old French violence
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Germanic*ne
  3. Proto-Indo-European*ís?
  4. Proto-Indo-European*h₁óynos
  5. Proto-Germanic*ainaz
  6. Proto-Germanic*nainaz
  7. Proto-West Germanic*nain
  8. Old Englishnān
  9. Middle Englishnon
  10. Old Englishnān
  11. Old Englishnān-
  12. Middle Englishnon-
  13. Englishnon-
  14. Latinviolēns /violentus
  15. Latinviolentia
  16. Old Frenchviolence
  17. Middle Englishviolence
  18. Englishviolence
  19. English todaynonviolence

From non- + violence.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.