1570s, the vogue, "height of popularity or accepted fashion," from French vogue "fashion, success;" also "drift, swaying motion (of a boat)" literally "a rowing," from Old French voguer "to row, sway, set sail" (15c.), probably from a Germanic source. Compare Old High German wagon "to float, fluctuate," literally "to balance oneself;" German Woge "wave, billow," wogen "fluctuate, float" (from PIE root *wegh- "to go, move").
Perhaps the notion is of being "borne along on the waves of fashion." Italian voga "a rowing," Spanish boga "rowing," but colloquially "fashion, reputation" also probably are from the same Germanic source. Phrase in vogue "having a prominent place in popular fashion" first recorded 1643. The fashion magazine began publication in 1892.
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to go, move, transport in a vehicle."
The root wegh-, "to convey, especially by wheeled vehicle," is found in virtually every branch of Indo-European, including now Anatolian. The root, as well as other widely represented roots such as aks- and nobh-, attests to the presence of the wheel — and vehicles using it — at the time Proto-Indo-European was spoken. [Watkins, p. 96]
It forms all or part of: always; away; convection; convey; convex; convoy; deviate; devious; envoy; evection; earwig; foy; graywacke; impervious; invective; inveigh; invoice; Norway; obviate; obvious; ochlocracy; ogee; pervious; previous; provection; quadrivium; thalweg; trivia; trivial; trivium; vector; vehemence; vehement; vehicle; vex; via; viaduct; viatic; viaticum; vogue; voyage; wacke; wag; waggish; wagon; wain; wall-eyed; wave (n.); way; wee; weigh; weight; wey; wiggle.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit vahati "carries, conveys," vahitram, vahanam "vessel, ship;" Avestan vazaiti "he leads, draws;" Greek okhos "carriage, chariot;" Latin vehere "to carry, convey," vehiculum "carriage, chariot;" Old Church Slavonic vesti "to carry, convey," vozŭ "carriage, chariot;" Russian povozka "small sled;" Lithuanian vežu, vežti "to carry, convey," važis "a small sled;" Old Irish fecht "campaign, journey," fen "carriage, cart;" Welsh gwain "carriage, cart;" Old English wegan "to carry;" Old Norse vegr, Old High German weg "way;" Middle Dutch wagen "wagon."
"be tiresome or dull," 1768, a vogue word c. 1780-81 according to Grose (1785); see bore (n.2). As "cause boredom to," by 1840.
mid-15c., "chance, luck," verbal noun from happen (v.); meaning "an occurrence" is 1550s. Sense of "spontaneous event or display" is from 1959 in the argot of artists. Happenings "events" was noted by Fowler as a vogue word from c. 1905.
slang shortening of grotesque, it had a brief vogue 1964 as part of the argot popularized by The Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night." It unconsciously echoes Middle English groti "muddy, slimy," from Old English grotig "earthy," from grot "particle."
suffix sporadically in vogue since c. 1840 in U.S. colloquial word formation (such as dullsville, palookaville), abstracted from the -ville in place names (Louisville, Greenville, etc.), from Old French ville "town," from Latin villa (see villa).
as a symbol of cowardice, 1785, said to be from the time when cock-fighting was respectable, and when the strain of game-cock in vogue had no white feathers, so that "having a white feather, is proof he is not of the true game breed" [Grose].
1900, as Ping-Pong, trademark for table tennis equipment (Parker Brothers). Both words are imitative of the sound of the ball hitting a hard surface; from ping + pong (attested from 1823). It had a "phenomenal vogue" in U.S. c. 1900-1905.
