English
allege
Allege comes from Middle English aleggen.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aleggen
- Englishearliest quotation 1603allege
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aleggen
- Englishearliest quotation 1603allege
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “I will further alleage a storie[…]to make us palpably…”
A compound of ex ‘out’ + lītigō ‘sue at law’
Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs ‘out’
Proto-Italic *eks
Latin ex ‘out’
Proto-Indo-European *slíHtis
Proto-Italic *slītis
Old Latin stlīs
Latin lis ‘a quarrel’
Latin lītigō ‘sue at law’
Every English word from Middle English aleggen
Today it means
verb To state under oath, to plead.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English aleggen / allege