Etymograph

English

ulva

Ulva comes from Latin ulva ‘sedge’, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-1‘to grow’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEulva2‘sedge’
  3. mulmodernUlva2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1875ulva2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin ulva
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ulva
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1875, George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana: “The ulvas belong to the chlorospermous class of seaweeds,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂el-Wiktionary, Latin ulva‘to grow’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEulvaWiktionary, English ulva‘sedge’
  3. mulmodernUlvaWiktionary, English ulva
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1875ulvaWiktionary, English ulva. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1875, George Ripley, Charles Anderson Dana: “The ulvas belong to the chlorospermous class of seaweeds,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- ‘to grow’

as, all, old, else, el, element, adult, alien, ultimate, alternate, elder, alter, ellen, altitude, alumni, ultra, qualification, outrage, alt, altar, ou, alpine, adolescent, abolish, alto, alias, alum, alibi, retaliate, alimony, alp, proletariat, altruism, parallax, ulterior, coalesce, exalt, foetal, althea, auld, 66 more

Today it means

noun Any organism of the genus Ulva.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ulva”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin ulva. 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- / ulva

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