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alder

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Etymology and origin of the English word alder

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɔːldə/[1]

alder1 tree

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Épinal Glossary
Inherited from
Old English alor via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *el-

Etymology

The word for the tree is inherited from Middle English alder, also aller,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English alor, also aler,[5][6][7][3] from Proto-Germanic *aluz,[8][1] a variant of *alisō.[8][9] It is cognate with Old Norse ǫlr, Old High German elira and erila (whence German Erle), Old Frisian erl, Dutch els, Danish elle and Swedish al,[10][9][6] and, outside Germanic, with Latin alnus (whence French aune), Polish olcha and Lithuanian alksnis.[9][10][11] Etymonline derives the Indo-European tree name from Proto-Indo-European *el- (“red, brown”),[9] and the OED likewise takes the base to be a colour term for reddish brown, from the colour of cut alder wood, comparing elm;[10] it also notes the suggestion of a non-Indo-European substrate, compared with Basque haltza.[10] Merriam-Webster and Weekley cite an unattested Gothic word as the source of Spanish aliso.[3][12] The d is a later insertion, recorded from the 14th century,[7][13][9][11] a glide between the l and the following vowel, as in thunder from Old English þunor.[11][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The European alder, Alnus glutinosa: early Old English, in the Épinal Glossary.[10] The Middle English Dictionary's records include the gloss Alnus: olr in a copy of Ælfric's glossary and compounds such as alder kerre, an alder swamp.[2]

Semantic evolution

The historical form aller lasted in literary English until the 18th century and survives in dialects, as in Lancashire owler, which is partly from Norse.[9] The tree also lives on in place names and surnames such as Alresford, Allerton, Ollerton and Ollerenshaw,[12] and in Aldershot.[11] From the 17th century the name spread to other plants that resemble the alder: berry-bearing alder, the alder buckthorn (1648), other species of Alnus (1755) and shrubs of other families (1793).[10] In dialect, death alder was the spindle tree in Buckinghamshire, where it was thought unlucky to bring it into the house, and wild alder was goutweed in Lincolnshire.[14] Anglers used alder for the alderfly from 1856.[10]

Timeline

  • early Old English – the alder tree.[10]
  • 14th century – spellings with d appear.[7][13][11] Merriam-Webster dates the word to the 14th century.[3]
  • 1648 – berry-bearing alder, the alder buckthorn.[10]
  • 1755 – other trees and shrubs of the genus Alnus.[10]
  • 1793 – trees and shrubs of other genera that resemble the alder.[10]
  • 1856 – in angling, the alderfly.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A tree or shrub of the genus Alnus, related to the birch, with toothed leaves and cone-like fruits, usually growing in damp places: A row of alders lined the creek.[3][15][10]
  2. The wood of this tree, which resists rotting under water.[3][15]
  3. Any of several similar trees or shrubs of other genera.[3][15][10]

Word family

  • alderfly
  • witch alder

alder2 parent, chief

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Old English poetry
Inherited from
Old English ealdor via Middle English

Etymology

The word for a parent or chief is inherited from Middle English alder, inherited from Old English ealdor (“parent, head of a family, chief”).[2][5][10] The OED takes it as apparently cognate with Old Frisian alder (“parent”), and probably formed on the Germanic base of alan (“to nourish”), the base of old, with an agent suffix comparable to that of Latin altor (“nourisher”); alternatively it may be formed from the base of old with a Germanic noun suffix, which would make it close to elder.[10] Bosworth–Toller's cognates include Old Saxon aldiro, Old High German altiron and Dutch ouder.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A parent or ancestor, in the Old English poem Genesis A, and the head of a family or clan, a chief or prince, in Beowulf.[10]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the word was more often used of a chief than of a parent, while elder was the usual word for a parent or ancestor; late spellings such as eldres may show the two being confused.[10] The sense "parent" is not recorded after about 1175.[10] In early Middle English, the Brut (in a copy of about 1275) still called the king of France an aldere, a ruler,[2] and the sense "chief, prince" lasted until about 1475.[10][2]

Timeline

  • Old English – a parent or ancestor; the head of a family or clan, a chief or prince.[10][5]
  • c. 1175 – last record of the sense parent.[10]
  • c. 1275 – a ruler, in the Brut.[2]
  • c. 1475 – last record of the sense chief or prince.[10][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (obsolete, Old English–1475) A chief, prince or leader.[10][2]
  2. (obsolete, Old English–1175) A parent or ancestor.[10][5]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  6. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  9. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d e Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  12. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  13. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Alder.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/alder. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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