"A" Word Origins

alexius

Origin

From Latin Alexius, from Ancient Greek Ἀλέξιος (Aléxios) or Ἄλεξις (Álexis, “helper, defender”).

alf

Old Norse

From Old Norse alfr, the same root that gives English "elf" and "oaf".

alfa

Italian

The religious sense comes from Fula alfaa; the car sense is simply short for the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo.

alfalfa

Spanish

From Spanish alfalfa, ultimately from Arabic al-faṣfaṣa — the plant travelled from the Middle East into Spain and then into English.

Alfie

Origin

A diminutive of Alfred/Alfonso formed with the affectionate -ie ending.

alfilaria

Origin

From Spanish alfilerillo, from alfiler (“pin”). The ending was assimilated to the familiar botanical suffix -aria.

Alfonso

Italian

The Spanish and Italian form of the same name that gives English Alphonse; several medieval Spanish kings were named Alfonso.

alfonzo

Origin

Variant of Alfonso.

Alfred

Old English

From Old English AElfraed, formed from aelf ("elf") and raed ("counsel") — literally "elf counsel".

Alfredo

Origin · 1900

Named after Alfredo Di Lelio, the Roman restaurateur who first served fettuccine Alfredo in the early twentieth century.

alfresco

Origin

From Italian al fresco. Compare Spanish al fresco.

alfy

Origin

Diminutives + -y.

algate

Origin

From all + gate (compare Old Norse alla götu).

algebra

Arabic · 800

From Arabic al-jabr ("reunion of broken parts"), taken from the title of a ninth-century mathematics text by al-Khwarizmi.

algebraic

Origin

Partly from algebra + -ic and partly from French algébraïque.

algebraical

Origin

From Latin algebraicus + -al or algebra + -ical.

Algeria

Arabic

Named after its capital, Algiers, ultimately from Arabic al-jazair ("the islands"), referring to small islands once found in the bay there.

Algernon

Old French

From Old French als gernons, roughly "with moustaches" — originally a nickname describing facial hair before it became a family and given name.

Algiers

French

From French Alger, from Arabic al-jazair ("the islands"), referring to islets that once stood in the harbour.

Algonquin

French

From Canadian French algonquin, likely from an Indigenous phrase meaning either "these are our relatives" or "at the place of spearing fish".

algorithm

Medieval Latin · 800

From the name of the ninth-century Persian mathematician al-Khwarizmi, via Medieval Latin algorismus.

algospeak

Origin

From algo (“algorithm”) + -speak.

Alhambra

Spanish

From Spanish Alhambra, from Arabic al-hamra ("the red one"), describing the reddish walls of the fortress.

Ali

Arabic

From Arabic Ali, meaning "high" or "exalted".

Alia

Arabic

Borrowed from Arabic عَالِيَة (ʕāliya). The feminine form of Ali.

alias

Latin

From Latin alias, meaning "at another time" or "otherwise" — the same root as "alien" and "else".

alibi

Latin

From Latin alibi, meaning "elsewhere" — the legal defence literally claims the accused was somewhere else.

Alice

Old French

From Old French Alis/Alice, from Old High German Adalheid ("noble" + "kind/type") — a doublet of the name Adelaide.

Alicia

Old French

A Latinization of Alice, which is in turn from Old French Adelais, Germanic Adalheid.

alien

Latin

From Latin alienus ("belonging to another"), from alius ("other") — related to English "else".

alienate

Latin

From Latin alienatus, past participle of alienare ("to estrange"), from alienus ("belonging to another").

alienation

Latin

From Latin alienatio, from alienare ("to estrange" or "to transfer ownership").

alight

Old English

From Old English alihtan, a combination of a- ("off, away") and lihtan ("to make light, to descend"), related to the word "light".

alighten

Origin

From Middle English alighten, from a merger of Old English ālīhtan (“to alight, dismount”), from prefix ā- (compare Gothic 𐌿𐍃- (us-), German er- originally meaning "out") + līhtan (“to alight”); and Old English ġelīhtan (“to alight, approach, come, come down, dismount”); equivalent to alight + -en.

align

Latin

From French aligner, from Latin lineare ("to make straight"), from linea ("line").

alignment

French

From French alignement, from aligner ("to align").

alike

Old English

From Old English gelic ("alike, similar"), related to German gleich.

aliment

Origin

From French aliment, from Latin alimentum (“food”).

alimony

Latin

From Latin alimonia ("nourishment, sustenance"), from alere ("to nourish") — the same root as "aliment".

Alina

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Alina, or a Latinate form of French Aline, ultimately from diminutives of the same Germanic name Adela, Adele.

aline

Middle English

From a- + line, possibly from Middle English alinen (“copulate”), Middle French aligner.

aliphatic

Origin

From oblique stem of Ancient Greek ἄλειφαρ (áleiphar, “oil, ointment”) + -ic.

Alisha

Origin

A modern spelling variant of Alicia.

Alison

Old French

From Old French Alison, a diminutive of Aliz (Alice), which traces back to a Germanic name meaning "of noble kind."

Alissa

Origin

A variant of Alyssa, linked either to the name Alicia or to the flower alyssum.

Alistair

Greek

From Scottish Gaelic Alasdair, from the Greek name Alexandros, meaning "defender of men."

alive

Old English

From Old English on līfe, literally "in life" — the same phrase that gives us the shortened word "life" fused into one.

aliyah

Origin

From Hebrew עלייה / עֲלִיָּה (aliyá, “ascent”).