vocative

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*wokʷ-
2. Latin · derived fromvocātīvus“for calling”
3. Middle French · derived fromvocatif
4. Middle English · inherited from[Term?]
5. English todayvocative

From Late Middle English [Term?], borrowed from Middle French vocatif, from Latin vocātīvus (“for calling”); a calque of Ancient Greek κλητῐκή (klētĭkḗ, “for calling; vocative case”) – from vocāre (“to call”), from Proto-Indo-European *wokʷ-, o-grade of *wekʷ- (“give vocal utterance, speak”). See Latin vōx.