Etymograph

English

alum

Alum comes from Latin alūmen, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂elut- ‘beer’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂elut-‘beer’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalūmen
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400alum
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alym‘any alum, especially potash alum’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1807alum

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂elut-‘beer’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalūmen
  3. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400alum
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alym‘any alum, especially potash alum’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1807alum

Earliest quotation: 1807, William Nicholson, A Journal of Natural Philosophy: “With weld and cochineal, which are colouring matters the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂elut- ‘beer’

ale, 3 more

Another origin of alum

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-‘to nourish, grow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-o-mh₁no-‘being nourished’reconstructedmediopassive participle of *h₂el-
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*alomanosreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalumnus‘Nourished, fostered, etc’
  5. English1500–presentalumnus
  6. Englishtodayalum

Today it means

noun An astringent salt, usually occurring in the form of pale crystals, much used in the dyeing and tanning trade and in certain medicines, and now understood to be a double sulphate of potassium and aluminium (K₂SO₄·Al₂(SO₄)₃·24H₂O).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂elut- / alum

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