means The sound a person or animal makes through the mouth when speaking or singing — and, by extension, one's distinctive way of expressing thoughts or being heard.

from From Latin 'vox' (voice, sound, utterance), which traveled through Old French 'vois' before settling into English. The Latin root is part of a wide family that gave us 'vocal,' 'vocation' (literally a calling), and 'vowel' — the very sounds the voice opens to let air sing through. Far back, it likely traces to a Proto-Indo-European root *wekw-, 'to speak,' a cousin of words for speech across many old tongues.