alio

Forms

aliō (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from alius (“other”) with the adverbial ending ⟨-ō⟩ of direction.^[2][3][1] De Vaan derives ⟨alius⟩ from Proto-Italic *al-jo- (“another”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-io- (“another”).^[4] Cognate with Oscan allo (“other”), Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”), Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌹𐍃 (aljis, “other”) and Old Irish aile (“other”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Plautus;^[3] in the Mostellaria a man thinks his son “has gone off elsewhere to a party”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

It is to another place, in another direction, elsewhere, and aliō … aliō is in one direction … in another.^[2][3] It is also to another person, as Plautus' aliō nūbere, to marry someone else, and to another source.^[2]

Figuratively it is to another course of action, as Cicero's “my whole life must be turned another way”, to another subject, as Plautus' “my speech must be changed to something else”, and to another purpose.^[2] Church Latin glosses it “elsewhere, to another person or place”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of going elsewhere and marrying another.^[2][3][6]
• 190–159 BC – Terence.^[6]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero of turning one's life another way.^[2][6]

Meanings

Adverb

1. To another place, elsewhere, in another direction;^[2][1][5] aliō … aliō, one way … another.^[2][3]
2. To another person; to another source.^[2][5]
3. To another course, subject or purpose.^[2]

Related words

• alius
• alibī
• aliunde
• aliter
• quō

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de