Etymograph

English

alula

Alula comes from Latin ala ‘wing’, from axis ‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- ‘axle, axis’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱs-1‘axle, axis’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aksis1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaxis1‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*axla1reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEala1‘wing’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2017alula1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English alula
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, Hanneke Meijer: “On the wing, even the tiny “thumb feather” or…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eḱs-Wiktionary, English alula‘axle, axis’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aksisWiktionary, English alulareconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaxisWiktionary, English alula‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*axlaWiktionary, English alulareconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEalaWiktionary, English alula‘wing’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2017alulaWiktionary, English alula. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, Hanneke Meijer: “On the wing, even the tiny “thumb feather” or…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- ‘axle, axis’

axle, atelier, axon, 11 more

through Proto-Italic *aksis

axes, 11 more

through Latin axis ‘an axletree of wagon, car, chariot’

axis, axe, 11 more

through Latin ala ‘wing’

aisle, ala, 10 more

Another origin of alula

  1. HawaiianmodernʻŌlulu
  2. Englishtodayalula

Today it means

noun A small projection of three or four feathers on the first digit of the wing on some birds.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “alula”. 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 *h₂eḱs- / alula

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