Where does “alms” come from?
Alms comes from Middle English almes, from Old English ælmesse, from Proto-West Germanic alimosina, ultimately denoting charitable gifts or relief given to the poor.
alms (English): Something given to the poor as charity, such as...
Definitions
- Something given to the poor as charity, such as...
Ancestry of “alms”, step by step
alms traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French aumône
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | aumône | alms; a small, insulting sum of money |
| 2 | Old French | almosne | alms |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | alemosyna | alms |
| 4 | Latin | eleēmosyna | alms |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | ἐλεημοσύνη | pity, mercy; alms, charity |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | ἐλεήμων | pitiful, merciful |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | ἐλεέω | I have pity on, take pity on, show mercy to |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | -έω | Used to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -éyeti | Forms causative imperfective verbs from roots;... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -yeti | Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots |