Etymograph

English

alate

Alate comes from Latin ālātus ‘having wings, winged’, from āla ‘wing’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- ‘axis’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱs-‘axis’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aksisreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaxis‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*axlareconstructed
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEāla‘wing’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEālātus‘having wings, winged’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2016alate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱs-‘axis’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aksisreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaxis‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CE*axlareconstructed
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEāla‘wing’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEālātus‘having wings, winged’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2016alate

Earliest quotation: 2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild: “Beetles fly, many ants send forth massive swarms of…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- ‘axis’

axle, axon, atelier, 11 more

through Proto-Italic *aksis

axes, 11 more

through Latin axis ‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’

axis, axe, 11 more

through Latin āla ‘wing’

aisle, ala, 10 more

Today it means

adj Having wings or winglike extensions or parts; winged.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- / alate

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