Etymologically
Log in

alo

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:09. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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