English
alloy
Alloy comes from Middle French alloy, from Latin alligō ‘to bind to, up or around something, tie,…’, and ultimately from ligō.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō‘tie, bind up or together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEalligō‘to bind to, up or around something, tie, fetter, fasten’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400aloi
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600alloy
- Englishearliest quotation 1603same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEligō‘tie, bind up or together’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEalligō‘to bind to, up or around something, tie, fetter, fasten’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400aloi
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600alloy
- Englishearliest quotation 1603same form
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “Metrodorus said that in sadnesse there is some aloy…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- ‘to bind’
through Latin ligō ‘tie, bind up or together’
league, religious, religion, liable, liaison, ligament, lien, ligand, ligature, religiosity, obligate, liaise, ligation, legato, 14 more
through Latin alligō ‘to bind to, up or around something, tie,…’
Another origin of alloy
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alayen
- Englishtodayalloy
Today it means
noun A metal that is a combination of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal, a base metal.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin ligō / alloy