English
althea
Althea comes from Latin althaea ‘a wild mallow, marshmallow’, from Ancient Greek ἀλθαίνω ‘to heal’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, nourish’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-1‘to grow, nourish’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eldʰ-1reconstructedsuffixed form of *h₂el-
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀλθαίνω1althaínō‘to heal’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀλθαία1‘marsh mallow, Althaea officinalis’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalthaea2‘a wild mallow, marshmallow’
- Englishtodayalthea2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin althaea
- 2 Wiktionary, English althea
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-Wiktionary, Latin althaea‘to grow, nourish’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eldʰ-Wiktionary, Latin althaeareconstructedsuffixed form of *h₂el-
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀλθαίνωWiktionary, Latin althaeaalthaínō‘to heal’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEἀλθαίαWiktionary, Latin althaea‘marsh mallow, Althaea officinalis’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalthaeaWiktionary, English althea‘a wild mallow, marshmallow’
- EnglishtodayaltheaWiktionary, English althea
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, nourish’
as, all, old, else, el, adult, element, ultimate, elder, ellen, alien, ultra, outrage, ou, qualification, alternate, alumni, adolescent, altitude, alter, abolish, alpine, altar, alias, alt, proletariat, alum, auld, retaliate, alimony, alto, alibi, alp, ulterior, parallax, altruism, coalesce, aad, eld, foetal, 66 more
Today it means
noun Any of several plants of the genus Althaea; the hollyhocks and mallows, native to Eurasia.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “althea”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin althaea. 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- / althea