al-2. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

Appendix I

Indo-European Roots

ENTRY:	al-²
DEFINITION:	To grow, nourish. Derivatives include old, haughty, altitude, enhance, alumnus, coalesce, and prolific. I. Suffixed (participial) form al-to-, “grown.” 1a.* alderman, old, from Old English eald, ald, old; b. elder¹, from Old English (comparative) ieldra, eldra, older, elder; c. eldest, from Old English (superlative) ieldesta, eldesta, eldest; d. Germanic compound wer-ald- (see w-ro-). a–d* all from Germanic alda-. 2. alt, alto, haughty, hawser; altimeter, altiplano, altitude, altocumulus, altostratus, enhance, exalt, hautboy, from Latin altus,* high (“grown tall”), deep. II. Suffixed form al-mo-. alma mater, from Latin almus,* nurturing, nourishing. III. Suffixed form al-o-. adolescent, adult, alible, aliment, alimony, altricial, alumnus; coalesce, from Latin alere,* to nourish, and alumnus, fosterling, step-child, originally a participle of alere (“being nourished,” < al-o-mno-). IV.* Suffixed (causative) form ol-eye-. abolish, from Latin abolre,* to retard the growth of, abolish (ab-, from; see apo-). V. Compound form pro-al- (pro-,* forth; see per¹). proletarian, proliferous, prolific, from Latin prls, offspring. VI. Extended form aldh-. althea, from Greek althein,* althainein, to get well. (Pokorny 2. al- 26.)


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.