Etymograph

English

ale

Ale comes from Old English ealu ‘beer, ale’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *alu.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*alu1‘beer’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*alu1‘beer’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ealu1‘beer’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ale1
  5. Englishtodayale1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English ale

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*aluWiktionary, English ale‘beer’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*aluWiktionary, English ale‘beer’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150ealuWiktionary, English ale‘beer’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500aleWiktionary, English ale
  5. EnglishtodayaleWiktionary, English ale

Linked words

pairs

  • ale and bridal both from Old English ealu

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

aluminium, alum, 2 more

Today it means

noun A beer or beerlike drink produced by so-called warm fermentation and unpressurized.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ale”. 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-Germanic *alu / ale

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