Etymograph

English

alas

Alas comes from Old French a las, from Latin lassus ‘weary’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- ‘to be tired’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-1‘to be tired’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lh₁d-to-s1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElassus2‘weary’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400a las2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alas2
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1521alas2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin lassus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English alas
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1521, John Skelton: “Helas I lamente the dull abuſyd brayne The enfatuate…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leh₁d-Wiktionary, Latin lassus‘to be tired’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lh₁d-to-sWiktionary, Latin lassusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElassusWiktionary, English alas‘weary’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400a lasWiktionary, English alas
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500alasWiktionary, English alas
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1521alasWiktionary, English alas. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1521, John Skelton: “Helas I lamente the dull abuſyd brayne The enfatuate…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- ‘to be tired’

let, late, latter, leet, 3 more

Another origin of alas

  1. Yakutmodernалаасalaas
  2. Englishtodayalas

Today it means

intj Used to express sorrow, regret, compassion, grief, resignation, or disappointment.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “alas”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin lassus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- / alas

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