English
alp
Alp comes from Latin Alpes ‘high mountains, especially those of Switzerland’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEAlpes‘high mountains, especially those of Switzerland’
- Englishearliest quotation 1671alp
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEAlpes‘high mountains, especially those of Switzerland’
- Englishearliest quotation 1671alp
Earliest quotation: 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, […].: “Nor breath of Vernal Air from ſnowy Alp.”
The story
Late Middle English, back-formation from alps pl, via French from Latin Alpes (‘high mountains, especially those of Switzerland’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, rise’
as, all, old, else, adult, el, ultimate, element, ultra, elder, ellen, alien, alternate, outrage, ou, qualification, altitude, alter, adolescent, alumni, abolish, altar, alt, alias, alto, proletariat, auld, ulterior, retaliate, alimony, alum, alibi, altruism, parallax, coalesce, aad, eld, altimeter, foetal, althea, 66 more
through Latin Alpes ‘high mountains, especially those of Switzerland’
Today it means
noun A very high mountain. Specifically, one of the Alps, the highest chain of mountains in Europe.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin Alpes / alp