Etymologically
Log in

aliter

This is an old revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 20:57. It may differ significantly from the current version. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Current version Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈa.lɪ.tɛr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.li.ter][1]

Forms

aliter (not comparable)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin alius (“other”) + -ter.[2][1] alius goes back to Proto-Italic *al-jo- (“another”) and Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-io- (“another”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's first citation is Plautus: sīn aliter sient animātī, “but if they are minded otherwise”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Aliter is “in another way, otherwise, differently”, often with atque, quam or ac (Plautus: longē aliter est amīcus atque amātor, “a friend is something very different from a lover”).[2][1] Repeated, aliter … aliter is “in one way … in another”, and nōn aliter quam sī is “exactly as if”.[2] As a euphemism it is “otherwise than one wishes, badly” (Cicero: sīn aliter acciderit, “if it turns out otherwise”).[2][1] It also means “on any other terms, if not, otherwise, else” (Cicero: neque enim aliter stāre possēmus, “for we could not stand otherwise”).[2]

Church Latin glosses it “otherwise”, and aliter atque “otherwise than”.[4] Wiktionary adds “wrongly, poorly”.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: sīn aliter sient animātī.[2][5]
  • 190–159 BC – Terence: haud aliter cēnseō.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: sīn aliter acciderit.[2][5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. otherwise, differently, in another way.[2][6][1][4]
  2. aliter … aliter: in one way … in another.[2]
  3. nōn aliter quam sī: exactly as if.[2]
  4. Otherwise than one would wish, badly, unfavourably.[2][1]
  5. If not, else, on any other terms.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press