Where does “altar” come from?
Altar comes from Middle English alter, from Old English alter, from Latin altare, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European h₂el- meaning "to grow" or "high."
altar (English): A table or similar flat-topped structure used for...
Definitions
- A table or similar flat-topped structure used for...
Ancestry of “altar”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old English | altar | altar |
| 2 | Latin | altāre | altar, fitting for burnt offerings |
| 3 | Latin | adoleō | to emit an odor, smell |
| 4 | Latin | ad- | to; usually prefixed to verbs, in which cases it... |
| 5 | Latin | īn- | un-, non-, not |
| 6 | Latin | în | in, at, on, upon, from (space) |
| 7 | Latin | en | lookǃ beholdǃ; reallyǃ?; come onǃ |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | en | in |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁én | in |