aloe

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English alewe, also aluwe and alwe,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Latin aloē,^[5][4][3][6] from Ancient Greek ἀλόη (alóē, “bitter aloes, aloe vera”),^[5][4][7] a word of uncertain origin, probably a loanword.^[5][7] Klein and Merriam-Webster take the Greek word from a Semitic source akin to Hebrew words for aloewood, perhaps from Sanskrit and ultimately Dravidian.^[8][9] The OED explains the sense "fragrant wood" by a confusion: in the Septuagint the agalloch tree was ἀλώθ (alṓth), probably from a Hebrew word that came ultimately from an Indian language, and the similar sound of the two plant names led to their merger, so that the Vulgate's Latin used aloe for the fragrant resin as well.^[5][7] In late Middle English the word was reinforced by aloes, from the Latin genitive form (as in lign-aloes), which is why it is often used in the plural.^[3][10][11] Related forms are Old High German āloē, Old Saxon aloe and Middle Dutch aloe.^[5][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The aromatic resin or wood of certain Southeast Asian trees, usually in the plural: in the Old English West Saxon Gospels (John 19:39),^[5][2] and the plant itself in Bald's Leechbook, in early Old English.^[5] Barnhart dates the Old English word to about 950.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The oldest sense in English is the fragrant resin or heartwood of the agalloch, which came from the biblical use of the word.^[7][11][13] From the late 14th century the word was used chiefly for the bitter drug made from the juice of the Aloe plant, used as a purgative;^[7][5][3] Trevisa wrote of it before 1398.^[5] From that bitterness came a figurative use, bitter experiences or bitterness, recorded before 1529 in Skelton.^[5][10] From 1665 the name was given to other plants that look like the true aloe, especially the American agave or century plant,^[5][7][10] and so the plant that yields the drug came to be called aloe vera, New Latin for "true aloe", a term of the mid 18th century.^[13][7]

Timeline

• early Old English – the plant, in Bald's Leechbook.^[5]
• Old English – the aromatic resin or wood, in the West Saxon Gospels.^[5][2]
• before 1398 – the bitter drug made from aloe juice, in Trevisa.^[5]
• before 1529 – figurative, bitterness, in Skelton.^[5]
• 1665 – other plants resembling aloes, especially the American agave.^[5][10]
• mid 18th century – aloe vera.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. Any of a large group of succulent plants, chiefly native to southern Africa, with fleshy, spiny-edged leaves and spikes of red or yellow flowers.^[14][9][5]
2. (usually in the plural) A bitter drug made from the dried juice of aloe leaves, used as a purgative.^[5][10][9]
3. (in the plural) The fragrant resin or wood of an Asian tree, agarwood.^[5][10][9]
4. (figurative, usually in the plural) Bitterness or bitter experience.^[5][10]
5. A plant that resembles an aloe, especially the century plant (American aloe).^[14][5][10]

Word family

• aloetic
• aloin
• aloe vera

Related words

• lign-aloes
• agalloch
• agave

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins