vanish

Where does the word "vanish" come from? It comes from Latin evanescere, passing through Old French before entering English (1300s).

Vanish’s story begins in Latin: evanescere meant “to fade away.” 'ex-', out, plus 'vanescere', to fade, from 'vanus', empty. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as esvanir. Its stem 'esvaniss-' gave the English form. It reached English by 1300s as vanish. 'vanishing point' dates from the 1700s. Today, vanish means to disappear suddenly.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient evanescere "to fade away", 'ex-', out, plus 'vanescere', to fade, from 'vanus', empty.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval esvanir "to disappear", its stem 'esvaniss-' gave the English form.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1300s vanish "to disappear", 'vanishing point' dates from the 1700s.