English
altitudinal
Altitudinal comes from Latin altitūdō ‘height’, from altus ‘high, lofty’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, nourish’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-1‘to grow, nourish’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eltós1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*altos1reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltus1‘high, lofty’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltitūdō2as altitūdin-‘height’
- Englishtodayaltitudinal2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin altitudo
- 2 Wiktionary, English altitudinal
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-Wiktionary, Latin altitudo‘to grow, nourish’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eltósWiktionary, Latin altitudoreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*altosWiktionary, Latin altitudoreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltusWiktionary, Latin altitudo‘high, lofty’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaltitūdōWiktionary, English altitudinalas altitūdin-‘height’
- EnglishtodayaltitudinalWiktionary, English altitudinal
Formed from -al
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow, nourish’
as, all, else, adult, el, element, ultimate, alien, ellen, ultra, outrage, ou, alumni, alter, qualification, adolescent, abolish, alpine, alias, alum, proletariat, retaliate, alimony, alibi, alp, ulterior, parallax, altruism, coalesce, foetal, aad, althea, withal, 65 more
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eltós
old, elder, auld, eld, 14 more
through Latin altus ‘high, lofty’
Today it means
adj Of or in relation to altitude
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “altitudinal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin altitudo. 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- / altitudinal