Etymology Explorer › Middle Irish

Where does “almsa” come from?

almsa (Middle Irish) comes from Old Irish almsan, from Vulgar Latin alemosyna, from Latin eleēmosyna, from Ancient Greek ἐλεημοσύνη, from Ancient Greek ἐλεήμων, from Ancient Greek ἐλεέω, from Ancient Greek -έω, from Proto-Indo-European -éyeti — Creates transitive imperfective verbs from roots.

Ancestry of “almsa”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Irishalmsanalms
2Vulgar Latinalemosynaalms
3Latineleēmosyna—
4Ancient Greekἐλεημοσύνηpity, mercy; alms, charity
5Ancient Greekἐλεήμωνpitiful, merciful
6Ancient GreekἐλεέωI have pity on, take pity on, show mercy to
7Ancient Greek-έωUsed to form verbs from nouns, adjectives and...
8Proto-Indo-European-éyetiForms causative imperfective verbs from roots;...
9Proto-Indo-European-yetiCreates transitive imperfective verbs from roots

Words derived from “almsa”

  • banalmsóir
  • almsóir
  • almsa
  • almsóireacht
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yeti →