Etymologically
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alatus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [aːˈɫaː.tʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [aˈlaː.tus][1]

Forms

ālātus (feminine ālāta, neuter ālātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin āla (“wing”) + -ātus.[2][1][3] Etymonline explains ⟨āla⟩ from ⟨*axla⟩, originally the joint of the wing or arm, from Proto-Indo-European *aks- (“axis”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its earliest source is Virgil's Aeneid, of Mercury's winged feet.[4][5][6] Köbler dates Virgil 70–19 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

Poetic, it meant furnished with wings, winged, as of Mercury in Virgil and Ovid.[2][5]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant winged.[7] English alate (1660s) is from it, as are Italian alato and Spanish alado.[3][1]

Timeline

  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it.[5][4]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it.[5][4]
  • 1660s – English alate is recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Winged.[2]

Word family

  • suprālātus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson