"cease to sleep, come out of sleep," a merger of two Middle English verbs: 1. awaken, from Old English awæcnan (earlier onwæcnan; strong, past tense awoc, past participle awacen) "to awake, arise, originate," from a "on" + wacan "to arise, become awake;" and 2. awakien, from Old English awacian (weak, past participle awacode) "to awaken, revive; arise; originate, spring from," from a "on" + wacian "to be awake, remain awake, watch." For the first element, see a (1); the second element in both is common Proto-Germanic (from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively").

Both originally were intransitive only; the transitive sense "arouse from sleep" generally being expressed by Middle English awecchen (from Old English aweccan) until later Middle English. In Modern English, the tendency has been to restrict the strong past tense and past participle (awoke, awoken) to the original intransitive sense and the weak inflection (awaked) to the transitive, but this never has been complete. For distinctions of usage, see wake (v.); also compare awaken.

Un peuple tout entier s'aperçut, le 15 mai 1796, que tout ce qu'il avait respecté jusque-là était souverainement ridicule et quelquefois odieux. ["La chartreuse de parme"]

c. 1200, biwicchen, "cast a spell on; enchant, subject to sorcery," from be- + Old English wiccian "to enchant, to practice witchcraft" (see witch). Literal at first, and with implication of harm; the figurative sense of "fascinate, charm past resistance" is from 1520s. *Bewiccian may well have existed in Old English, but it is not attested. Related: Bewitchery; bewitchment.

1702, "encampment of soldiers that stays up on night watch in the open air, dressed and armed," from French bivouac (17c.), said to be a word from the Thirty Years' War, ultimately from Swiss/Alsatian biwacht "night guard," from bei- (from Old High German bi- "by," here perhaps as an intensive prefix; see by) + wacht "guard" (from Proto-Germanic *wahtwo, from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively").

The sense of "outdoor camp" is from 1853. According to OED, not a common word in English before the Napoleonic Wars. Italian bivacco is from French. As a verb, 1809, "to post troops in the night;" the meaning "camp out-of-doors without tents" is from 1814.

"to watch diligently" (archaic), 1550s, from Latin invigilatus, past participle of invigilare "watch over, be watchful, be devoted," from in- "in" (from PIE root *en "in") + vigilare "to watch, keep awake, not sleep" (from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively"). In late 19c. especially in reference to student exams. Related: Invigilated; invigilating.

"signal given at break of day to soldiers and sentries" (originally by drum or bugle), 1640s, from French réveillez-vous "awaken!" imperative plural of réveiller "to awaken, to wake up," from re- "again" (see re-) + Middle French eveiller "to rouse," from Vulgar Latin *exvigilare, from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + vigilare "be awake, keep watch" (from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively").

1802, from French surveillance "oversight, supervision, a watch," noun of action from surveiller "oversee, watch" (17c.), from sur- "over" (see sur- (1)) + veiller "to watch," from Latin vigilare, from vigil "watchful" (from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively"). Seemingly a word that came to English from the Terror in France ("surveillance committees" were formed in every French municipality in March 1793 by order of the Convention to monitor the actions and movements of suspect persons, outsiders, and dissidents).

"mounted sentinel placed in advance of an outpost," 1680s, from French vedette (16c.), from Italian (Florentine) vedetta "watch tower, peep hole," probably from vedere "to see," from Latin videre "to see" (from PIE root *weid- "to see"), or else from Latin vigil "watchful, awake," from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively."

early 15c., "capable of life or growth; growing, vigorous;" also "neither animal nor mineral, of the plant kingdom, living and growing as a plant," from Old French vegetable "living, fit to live," and directly from Medieval Latin vegetabilis "growing, flourishing," from Late Latin vegetabilis "animating, enlivening," from Latin vegetare "to enliven," from vegetus "vigorous, enlivened, active, sprightly," from vegere "to be alive, active, to quicken," from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively." The meaning "resembling that of a vegetable, dull, uneventful; having life such as a plant has" is attested from 1854 (see vegetable (n.)).

early 15c., from Latin velocitatem (nominative velocitas) "swiftness, speed," from velox (genitive velocis) "swift, speedy, rapid, quick," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to vehere "carry" (from PIE root *wegh- "to go, move, transport in a vehicle"), or from PIE *weg-slo-, suffixed form of root *weg- "to be strong, be lively."

c. 1200, "eve of a religious festival" (an occasion for devotional watching or observance), from Anglo-French and Old French vigile "watch, guard; eve of a holy day" (12c.), from Latin vigilia "a watch, watchfulness," from vigil "watchful, awake, on the watch, alert," from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively." Meaning "watch kept on a festival eve" in English is from late 14c.; general sense of "occasion of keeping awake for some purpose" is recorded from 1711.