Etymologically
Log in

allego

Etymology and origin of the Latin word allego

History Permalink

allego1 to send, commission

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (lēgō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [alˈleː.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [alˈlɛː.ɡo][1]

Forms

allēgō (present infinitive allēgāre, perfect active allēgāvī, supine allēgātum); first conjugation[1] It is also spelled adlēgō.[2]

Etymology

This verb is from ad- and lēgō “to send with a commission”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citations are from Plautus, of sending someone as a representative.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to send someone as an intermediary or representative, and to employ as an agent, put someone up to something, suborn, as in Plautus.[2] In Seneca it meant to adduce in support of a plea, urge.[2]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant to dispatch, commission, instigate, adduce, pledge.[4] It was borrowed into French alléguer and Spanish alegar.[1] English allege (about 1300, “make a formal declaration in court”) takes its form from Anglo-French alegier and its sense from Latin allēgāre.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of sending.[2][3]
  • 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of pleading.[2][3]
  • c. 1300 – English allege is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To send as a representative, depute.[2]
  2. To employ as an agent; to suborn.[2]
  3. To adduce, plead, allege.[2]

Word family

  • allēgātiō
  • allēgātus

allego2 to elect, admit

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
Livy
Ultimate origin
Latin (legō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈal.lɛ.ɡoː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈal.le.ɡo][1]

Forms

allegō (present infinitive allegere, perfect active allēgī, supine allēctum); third conjugation[1] It is also spelled adlegō.[2]

Etymology

This verb is from ad- and legō “to gather, choose”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lewis & Short cite Livy.[6] Köbler dates Livy 59 BC–17 AD.[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant to elect, admit or recruit into a body, and in Suetonius to select for a duty, appoint to an office.[2][6]

It survives in Romanian alege “to choose” and Dalmatian alege, and English borrowed it as adlect.[1]

Timeline

  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy uses it.[6][3]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of appointing.[2][3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To elect, admit (into a body).[2]
  2. To appoint.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Allego.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/allego. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·