Where does “alignment” come from?

Alignment derives from French alignement, formed from the Middle French verb aligner with the French suffix -ment, where aligner combines Old French a- with a root from Latin ad meaning toward.

alignment (English): An arrangement of items in a line; The process of...

Definitions

  1. An arrangement of items in a line; The process of...

Ancestry of “alignment”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchalignementalignment
2Frenchalignerto align
3Middle Frenchaligner—
4Old Frenchalignier—
5Latinlinearepresent active infinitive of līneō; second-person...
6LatinlīneaA linen thread
7Latinlīnumflax
8Proto-Italiclīnom—
9Proto-Indo-Europeanlīnomflax

Words derived from “alignment”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European līnom →Every word from Proto-Italic līnom →Every word from Latin līnum →