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alipes

Etymology and origin of the Latin word alipes

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Lucretius
Ultimate origin
Latin (āla,pēs)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈaː.lɪ.peːs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.li.pes][1]

Forms

ālipēs (genitive ālipedis); third-declension one-termination adjective[1] Valerius Flaccus has the ablative ālipedī.[2]

Etymology

It is a compound of āla “wing” and pēs “foot”.[3][2][1] Etymonline explains ⟨āla⟩ from ⟨*axla⟩, originally the joint of the wing or arm, from Proto-Indo-European *aks- (“axis”).[4] De Vaan traces ⟨pēs⟩ to Proto-Indo-European *pṓds (“foot”).[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Lucretius, of swift motion.[3] Köbler dates Lucretius 96–55 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

Poetic and rare, never in Horace according to Lewis & Short, it meant with wings on the feet, wing-footed, as of Mercury in Ovid, and moving with the speed of flight, fleet, of horses and chariots, as in Lucretius and Virgil.[3][2][7] As a noun it was the wing-footed god, Mercury, in Ovid, and in poetry a horse, as in Virgil and Statius.[3]

British Medieval Latin used it for a swift-footed steed.[8]

Timeline

  • 96–55 BC – Lucretius uses it of swiftness.[3][6]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of horses.[3][6]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of Mercury.[3][6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Wing-footed.[3]
  2. Fleet, swift as flight.[3]

Noun

  1. Mercury, (poetic) a horse, steed.[3][8]

Usage notes

A separate, rare alipēs “without grease, fatless” is a borrowing of Ancient Greek ἀλιπής (alipḗs).[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Alipes.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/alipes. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·