Where does “alum” come from?

alum (Middle English) comes from Old French alun, from Latin alūmen, from English -ium, from Latin -um, from Proto-Italic *-om, from Proto-Indo-European *-oHom.

alum (Middle English): Alternative form of alym

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of alym

Ancestry of “alum”, step by step

alum traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French alun

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old FrenchalunAlternative form of alum
2Latinalūmenalum
3English-ium1997, Bryan Pfaffenberger, "Official Microsoft...
4Latin-umnominative neuter singular of -us; accusative...
5Proto-Italic*-om—
6Proto-Indo-European*-oHom—

via Middle English alym

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishalymAny alum, especially potash alum
2Anglo-Normanalumalum
3Latinalumenalum
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *-oHom →Every word from English -ium →Every word from Latin alūmen →