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Origin and history of evict

evict(v.)

mid-15c., "recover (property) by judicial means," from Latin evictus, past participle of evincere "overcome and expel, conquer, subdue, vanquish; prevail over; supplant," from assimilated form of ex "out," or perhaps here merely intensive (see ex-) + vincere "conquer" (see vincible).

The sense of "expel by legal process" first recorded in English 1530s, from a post-classical sense of the Latin word. Related: Evicted; evicting. Compare evince.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to evict

evince(v.)

c. 1600, "disprove, confute," from French évincer "disprove, confute," from Latin evincere "conquer, overcome subdue, vanquish, prevail over; elicit by argument, prove," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + vincere "to overcome" (see vincible). The meaning "show clearly" is late 18c. Not clearly distinguished from its doublet, evict, until 18c. Related: Evinced; evinces; evincing; evincible.

vincible(adj.)

1540s, "capable of being conquered or vanquished," from French vincible and directly from Latin vincibilis "which can be gained; easily maintained," from vincere "to overcome, conquer."

According to Watkins this is from a nasalized form of PIE root *weik- (3) "to fight, conquer." But de Vaan reports it from the similar PIE root meaning "to bend; tie" (see *weik- (2)) and notes, " 'to bend' can easily develop into 'overcome, conquer' (one bending the other) or 'give in, yield' (the one being bent by the other)."

Related: Vincibility. A vincible ignorance in theology is an ignorance in one who possesses the means of overcoming it.

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Trends of evict

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

oust
ousten, "eject, dispossess," from Anglo-French oster, ouster (early 14c.), Old French oster "remove, take away, take off; evict...
force
c. 1300, "physical strength," from Old French force "force, strength; courage, fortitude; violence, power, compulsion" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *fortia (source also of Old Spanish forzo, Spanish fuerza, Italian forza), noun use of neuter plural of Latin fortis "strong, mighty; f
out
expressing motion or direction from within or from a central point, also removal from proper place or position, Old English ut "out, without, outside," from Proto-Germanic *ūt- (Old Norse, Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Gothic ut, Middle Dutch uut, Dutch uit, Old High German uz, German
sanctuary
early 14c., seintuarie, sentwary, etc., "consecrated place, building set apart for holy worship; holy or sacred object," from Anglo-French sentuarie, Old French saintuaire "sacred relic, holy thing; reliquary, sanctuary," from Late Latin sanctuarium "a sacred place, shrine" (espe
inventory
early 15c., from Old French inventoire "detailed list of goods, a catalogue" (15c., Modern French inventaire), from Medieval Latin inventorium, alteration of Late Latin inventarium "list of what is found," from Latin inventus, past participle of invenire "to find, discover, ascer
broad
Old English brad "wide, not narrow," also "flat, open, extended," from Proto-Germanic *braidi- (source also of Old Frisian bred, Old Norse breiðr, Dutch breed, German breit, Gothic brouþs), which is of unknown origin. Not found outside Germanic languages. There is no clear distin
prosper
mid-14c., prosperen, "be successful, thrive, advance in any good thing," from Old French prosperer (14c.) and directly from Latin prosperare "cause to succeed, render happy," from prosperus "favorable, fortunate, prosperous" (source also of Spanish and Italian prospero). This is
pessimism
1794 "worst condition possible, point of greatest deterioration" (a sense now rare or obsolete), borrowed (by Coleridge) from French pessimisme, formed (on model of French optimisme) from Latin pessimus "worst," perhaps originally "bottom-most," from PIE *ped-samo-, suffixed (sup
rap
early 14c., rappe, "a quick, light blow; a resounding stroke," also "a fart" (late 15c.), native or borrowed from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish rap, Swedish rapp "light blow"); either way probably of imitative origin (compare slap, clap). Slang meaning "a rebuke, the blam
substance
c. 1300, substaunce, "divine part or essence" common to the persons of the Trinity;" mid-14c. in philosophy and theology, "that which exists by itself; essential nature; type or kind of thing; real or essential part;" from Old French sustance, substance "goods, possessions; natur

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