Drag to pan · scroll to zoom
Drag to rotate
Tracing “”…
Where does the word "evacuate" come from? It comes from Latin evacuare, and was adopted directly into English (1520s).
Read the full story
Where does the word "evacuate" come from? It comes from Latin evacuare, and was adopted directly into English (1520s).
Evacuate’s story begins in Latin: evacuare meant “to empty out.” 'e-', out, plus 'vacuus', empty. It reached English by 1520s as evacuate. Wartime 'evacuees' date from the 1930s. Today, evacuate means to remove people from a dangerous place.
- Stage 1 · Latin · ancient evacuare "to empty out", 'e-', out, plus 'vacuus', empty.
- Stage 2 · English · 1520s evacuate "to empty", wartime 'evacuees' date from the 1930s.