Etymograph

English

alliteration

Alliteration comes from New Latin allīterātiō, from Latin ad ‘to, towards, near’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂éd1‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*ad1‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEad2‘to, towards, near’
  4. New Latinc. 1500–1900allīterātiō2
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2018alliteration2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ad
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English alliteration
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Fish fury flares over Brussels Brexit deal: “So fish fury all round, as there has been…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂édWiktionary, Latin ad‘near, at’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*adWiktionary, Latin ad‘toward, to, on, up to, for’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEadWiktionary, English alliteration‘to, towards, near’
  4. New Latinc. 1500–1900allīterātiōWiktionary, English alliteration
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2018alliterationWiktionary, English alliteration. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Fish fury flares over Brussels Brexit deal: “So fish fury all round, as there has been…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd ‘near, at’

at, 16 more

through Proto-Italic *ad ‘toward, to, on, up to, for’

appointee, 16 more

through Latin ad ‘to, towards, near’

agree, ad, aim, appoint, await, attire, adage, accolade, affix, amortization, affine, adroit, adobo, adulation, apres, apportion, 20 more

Today it means

noun The repetition of consonant sounds or letters at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; such repetition specifically involving stressed syllables.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “alliteration”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ad. 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 *h₂éd / alliteration

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