alo

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈa.ɫoː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.lo]^[1]

Forms

alō (present infinitive alere, perfect active aluī, supine altum or alitum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *ale/o- (“to feed”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-e/o-.^[2] Cognate with Old Irish ailid (“feeds, rears”), Ancient Greek ἀλδαίνω (aldaínō, “to make grow”) and Ancient Greek ἄναλτος (ánaltos, “insatiable”).^[2][3] The OLD also compares Old English eald (English old).^[3] The old participle altus, also in adultus, goes back to *h₂l̥-to-, while alitus is a later form.^[2][4] alumnus continues an old middle participle “being fed”.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Livius Andronicus,^[2] who has a mother saying she nursed her child with milk.^[3] Köbler places his career before 200 BC.^[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant to suckle or feed offspring, to feed people and animals, and, of plants, to nourish them.^[3] From this came supporting someone with a livelihood, rearing children and keeping animals, and of a country or an occupation to nurture or support people.^[3] It also meant to feed a fire or a river, to promote the growth of qualities, and, of politics, to let a leader grow strong, as Cicero says of Pompey and Caesar.^[3]

Döderlein distinguishes alere, feeding that leads to growth, from nūtriō, feeding that only keeps a creature alive.^[6] Derivatives include alimentum and alimōnia “nourishment”, the source of English alimony, and alumnus, the source of English alumnus; adolēscō “to grow up” gave English adult.^[2][7]

Timeline

• before 200 BC – Livius Andronicus uses it of nursing a child.^[3][5]
• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius says someone feeds his friends lavishly.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero says a small farm could not support a man.^[3][5]
• 1530s – English adult is recorded, from adultus.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To suckle, nurse, feed (offspring).^[3]
2. To feed, nourish (people, animals, plants).^[3]
3. To support, maintain; to rear, bring up.^[3]
4. (of a place or occupation) To provide a living for.^[3]
5. To feed (a fire, a river); to make grow.^[3]
6. To foster, promote; to let (a rival) grow strong.^[3]

Word family

• alebris
• alēscō
• aletūdō
• alibilis
• alimentum
• alimōnium
• alitudo
• alitura
• almus

Related words

• alicārius
• alimentārius
• alumnus
• oleō
• adoleō
• English alimony
• English adult

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com