Etymograph

English

alphos

Alphos comes from Ancient Greek ἀλφός ‘dull white, used for some leprosy, psoriasis,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *albʰós.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*albʰós1‘white’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀλφός2alphós‘dull white, used for some leprosy, psoriasis, etc’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalphos2
  4. Englishtodayalphos2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀλφός
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English alphos

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*albʰósWiktionary, Ancient Greek ἀλφός‘white’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀλφόςWiktionary, English alphosalphós‘dull white, used for some leprosy, psoriasis, etc’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalphosWiktionary, English alphos
  4. EnglishtodayalphosWiktionary, English alphos

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *albʰós ‘white’

album, elf, alba, albino, elven, albedo, oaf, 28 more

Today it means

noun Any disease causing dull white or silvery spots on the skin, including non-contagious forms of leprosy and psoriasis.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “alphos”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek ἀλφός. 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 *albʰós / alphos

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