Etymograph

English

altar

Altar comes from Latin altāre ‘altar, fitting for burnt offerings’, from altus ‘tall, lofty’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘grow, nourish’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-1‘grow, nourish’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eltós1uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*altos1uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltus2as *altos‘tall, lofty’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltāre3‘altar, fitting for burnt offerings’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500auter3
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512altar3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin altus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin altare
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English altar
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “To hawke, or els to hunt From the auter…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-Wiktionary, Latin altus‘grow, nourish’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eltósWiktionary, Latin altusuncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*altosWiktionary, Latin altusuncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltusWiktionary, Latin altareas *altos‘tall, lofty’uncertain
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltāreWiktionary, English altar‘altar, fitting for burnt offerings’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500auterWiktionary, English altar
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1503–1512altarWiktionary, English altar. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood: “To hawke, or els to hunt From the auter…”

The story

Inherited from Middle English auter, inherited from Old English altar and borrowed from Old French auter, both derived from Latin altāre, probably related to adolere (‘burn’); thus "burning place", influenced by altus (‘high’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘grow, nourish’

as, all, else, el, adult, element, ultimate, ellen, alien, ultra, outrage, ou, qualification, alternate, alumni, adolescent, abolish, alter, alpine, alias, alum, alimony, alibi, retaliate, ulterior, alp, proletariat, altruism, parallax, coalesce, aad, foetal, althea, withal, 63 more

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós

old, elder, auld, eld, 14 more

through Latin altus ‘tall, lofty’

altitude, alt, alto, haughty, haut, altimeter, exalt, 13 more

Today it means

noun A table or similar flat-topped structure used for religious rites.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “altar”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin altus, Latin altare. 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 *h₂el- / altar

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