ala

ala of ileum labelled, top left

Originated 1730–40, borrowed from Latin āla (“wing”). Doublet of aisle.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈeɪ.lə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪlə

ala (plural alae or alæ)

1. (anatomy) A wing or winglike anatomic process or part, especially of bone.
2. (botany) The flattened border of some stems, fruits, and seeds, or one of the two side petals of certain flowers in the pea family.
3. (architecture) In ancient Rome, a small room opening into a larger room or courtyard.

Borrowed from French à la, by way of its English derivation a la.

ala

1. (colloquial) Alternative form of a la.
   • 2006, WorstPreviews.com‎, archived from the original on 7 June 2020:

     The film is told in reverse ala Memento.

   • 2008 November 14, admin, “Quantum of Solace”, in Film Threat‎:

     […] interactive plasma screens with flashing digits and what not, ala “Minority Report,” […]

   • 2011 March 11, Aaron Blake, Chris Cillizza, “Palin: The GOP's Pelosi?”, in The Fix‎:

     […] we might be getting to the point where Palin is a bona fide liability—ala Pelosi—for the GOP.

   • 2011 April 11, Charles Gasparino, “Duncan Niederauer Calling the Shots for NYSE Is Bad News for Shareholders”, in HuffPost‎:

     […] the NYSE didn't implode ala Merrill […]

• “ala”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “ala”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2000, →ISBN.
• “ala”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “ala” examples at Wordnik

• AAL, Aal, aal

Ala (1.1).

Related to Saho aluula.

• IPA^(key): /ˈala/, [ˈʔʌlʌ]
• Hyphenation: a‧la

ála m (plural alluwwá f or alwá f)

1. animal, wild animal
2. European, white person (clarification of this definition is needed)

Ala (2).

Related to Somali hal.

• IPA^(key): /aˈla/, [ʔʌˈlʌ]
• Hyphenation: a‧la

alá f (masculine rakúb, plural aloolí f)

1. female camel

• gaaláytu (“camel”)

• nargó (“baby female camel”)
• addó (“juvenile female camel”)
• erartó (“old female camel”)

• E. M. Parker, R. J. Hayward (1985) An Afar-English-French dictionary (with Grammatical Notes in English), University of London, →ISBN, page 37
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2004) Parlons Afar: Langue et Culture, L'Hammartan, →ISBN, page 24
• Mohamed Hassan Kamil (2015) L’afar: description grammaticale d’une langue couchitique (Djibouti, Erythrée et Ethiopie)‎, Paris: Université Sorbonne Paris Cité (doctoral thesis)

From Latin āla (“wing”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈala/, [ˈa.la]

ala f (plural ales)

1. wing
2. fin

   Synonym: aleta

• IPA^(key): /ɑˈɫɑ/

• Audio (Baku)

  (file)

From Proto-Turkic *āla.[1]

ala (comparative daha ala, superlative ən ala)

1. variegated
2. (poetic) blue (of eyes)

   ala gözlər ― blue eyes

• alagöz
• alagözlü

ala (definite accusative alanı, plural alalar)

1. vitiligo (the patchy loss of skin pigmentation.)

Likely from ay bala.

ala

1. dude

   Ala, nə eləyirsən?! ― Dude, what are you doing?!

• ədə!
• az!

ala

1. iroko (Milicia excelsa, syn. Chlorophora excelsa[1][2])

Presumably from Proto-Basque *aLa.[1]

• Audio

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ala/ [a.la]
• Rhymes: -ala
• Hyphenation: a‧la

ala

1. or (exclusive)

The conjunction ala is an exclusive or, while edo is an inclusive or. For instance, while Sagarrak edo udareak nahi al dituzu? and Sagarrak ala udareak nahi dituzu? are both correct, the former asks in a yes or no question if you want apples, pears, apples and pears, or nothing; while the latter asks which one you want, the apples, or the pears.

From Latin āla (“wing”).

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈa.lə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [ˈa.la]

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophone: hala

ala f (plural ales)

1. wing (appendage that enables flight)

• alat
• aleta
• aletejar

• alar

• “ala” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ala”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “ala” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ala” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• IPA^(key): /aˈla/

ala (active, short verb)

1. (intransitive) to arrive, to come (I)
2. (intransitive) to be born (I)

   Synonym: atta

3. (intransitive) to be here, to get here (I)
4. (transitive) to come to, to arrive at (I;3)

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

From Proto-Finnic *ala.

ala (genitive ala, partitive ala)

1. area, territory, region

   Sellelt alalt on leitud palju rauda. ― A lot of iron has been found in this area.

2. (in working life, in sciences) field

   Ainuke ala, mis mind huvitab, on ajalugu. ― The only field which interests me is history.

3. (business) branch

• “ala”, in [PSV] Eesti keele põhisõnavara sõnastik [Dictionary of Estonian Basic Vocabulary] (in Estonian) (online version, not updated), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2014
• “ala”, in [EKSS] Eesti keele seletav sõnaraamat [Descriptive Dictionary of the Estonian Language] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2009
• “ala”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN
• ala in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)

From Old Norse ala, from Proto-Germanic *alaną (“to nourish, grow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛaːla/
• Rhymes: -ɛaːla
• Homophones: æla, ælað

ala (third person singular past indicative ól, third person plural past indicative ólu, supine alið)

1. (kvæði) to give birth to
2. to foster
3. to nourish
4. to breed

See ala-; this stem was repurposed as a noun meaning "underside, lower side", from which the other senses have developed.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlɑ/, [ˈɑ̝lɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑlɑ
• Syllabification^(key): a‧la

ala

1. area, field, domain (one's field of expertise or activity)
2. field, discipline (specific branch of knowledge, learning, or practice; e.g. in work or sciences)
3. industry, sector, branch (business, studies, etc.)
4. (mathematics) area

   Synonym: pinta-ala

5. (archaic) underside

• “ala”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-01

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlɑˣ/, [ˈɑ̝lɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑlɑ
• Syllabification^(key): a‧la

ala

1. inflection of alkaa:
   1. present active indicative connegative
   2. second-person singular present imperative
   3. second-person singular present active imperative connegative

Learned borrowing from Latin āla. Compare the inherited á.

ala f (plural alas)

1. wing

   Synonym: á

• “ala”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, since 2012

Inherited from Classical Latin āla, from earlier *axla, from axis, from Proto-Italic *aksis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- (“axis”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈala/[1]

ala f (plural ali)

1. wing

From Proto-Polynesian *hala, from Proto-Oceanic *jalan, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *zalan, from Proto-Austronesian *zalan.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.la/, [ˈɐ.lə]

ala

1. way, path, road

• Pukui, Mary Kawena, Elbert, Samuel H. (1986) “ala”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press

ala

1. grandfather

• Philip Carr, Hoyahoya organised phonology data (2006)

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːla/
• Rhymes: -aːla

From Old Norse ala, from Proto-Germanic *alaną (“to nourish, grow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow”).

ala (strong verb, third-person singular past indicative ól, third-person plural past indicative ólu, supine alið)

1. to bear, give birth to [+accusative]
2. to foster [+accusative]
3. to feed, nourish [+accusative]

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ala

1. indefinite genitive plural of alur

Compare with Ebira àra, probably from Idoma ala, displaced native àgwùtọ̀

• IPA^(key): /á.lá/

álá

1. sheep

   Synonym: (obsolete) àgwùtọ̀

2. (idiomatic, offensive) idiot, stupid person

   Synonyms: àgwùtọ̀, álá onẹ̀

• Ígáláà

• ànị̀ (Onicha)

From Proto-Igboid *ɛ́-làCḭ. Cognate with Ekpeye ɛ́lɛ̀, Ogbah àlɪ̀, Ezaa àlɪ̀, Izi àlɪ̀, Ukwuani-Aboh-Ndoni ànɪ̀, Ika àlɪ̀.[1] Compare Proto-Yoruboid *á-lɛ̀, (Yoruba alẹ̀).

ala

1. earth, land, soil, ground.

• ala eze (“kingdom”)
• ala mmụọ (“spirit world”)
• Ọmenala

From Proto-Igboid [Term?]. Cognate with Ogbah ɛ́rã́, Ezaa ɛ́rá, Izi ɛ́rá, Ukwuani-Aboh-Ndoni ɛ́lá, Ika ɛ́rã́.[1] Possibly cognate with Yoruba wàrà.

ala

1. breast
2. milk

• IPA^(key): [ˈala]
• Hyphenation: ala

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

ala

1. (colloquial) a la, in the style or manner of.

   Synonyms: khas, gaya

From Arabic عَلَى (ʕalā).

ala

1. on, over.

   Synonyms: atas, pada, kepada, akan

ala (first-person possessive alaku, second-person possessive alamu, third-person possessive alanya)

1. (law) land with the owner or descendants still have the main rights in that land.

From Arabic أَعْلَى (ʔaʕlā).

ala

1. high.

   Synonym: tinggi

• “ala” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Inherited from Middle Irish athlad.

• IPA^(key): /ˈalˠə/

ala

1. Only used in phrases; see Derived terms below

• ar ala na huaire (“on the spur of the moment; within a second”)
• gach ala (“every now and then”)

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “ala”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.la/
• Rhymes: -ala
• Hyphenation: à‧la

From Latin āla.

ala f (plural ali or (archaic or poetic) ale)

1. wing

   Synonym: alia (archaic; slang)

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ala

1. inflection of alare:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *hulaR, from Proto-Austronesian *SulaR.

ala (classifier drơi)

1. snake

ala

1. Romanization of ꦲꦭ

• la (text messaging)

From Proto-Central Philippine *wadaq, from Proto-Philippine *wada (“to be, exist”), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *wada.

• IPA^(key): /əˈlaʔ/, [əˈläʔ]
• Hyphenation: a‧la

alâ

1. nothing; no one; none; nonexistent

alâ

1. missing; absent; gone; lost

   Synonyms: liban, bating, lili

2. (euphemistic) dead

   Synonym: mete

From a +‎ la.

ala

1. at or to the (+ feminine singular noun)

For earlier *axla, from axis, from Proto-Italic *aksis, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eḱs- (“axis”).[1]

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈaː.la/, [ˈäːɫ̪ä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.la/, [ˈäːlä]

āla f (genitive ālae); first declension

1. A wing.
2. (anatomy) The upper and under part of the arm, where it unites with the shoulder; the armpit.
3. (zoology) The hollow where the foreleg is joined to the shoulder; the shoulder blade.
4. (botany) The hollow where a limb joins the trunk of a tree.
5. (architecture) The wings off the main room, the side apartments on the right and left of the court, the side halls or porches, waiting areas, the colonnades.
6. (military) The wing of an army, cavalry force (usually deployed on an army's flank).

First-declension noun.

• ala in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• ala in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ala in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• ala in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• ala in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

The usual theory considers ala to be borrowed from Middle Low German hol (“depth, hole, cave”), from Old Saxon hol, or maybe from the same form in Middle Dutch or German Low German (East Frisian); cf. German Höhle (“cave”), all from Proto-West Germanic *hol.

A different view suggests that ala could also be a reflex of an old Proto-Indo-European stem *h₁el-, *ol-, *al- (“to flow, to drain”) with various Baltic reflexes: dialectal alots, alogs, standard avots (“(water) source”), alksna, aluksna (“miry, swampy place”) (cf. place names like Alūksne, Alūkstes), Lithuanian alė́ti (“to flow, to drip”). The original meaning of ala would thus have been “(water) source”, from which “place (e.g., cave, rift, pit) from which water springs,” and finally simply “cave,” possibly under the influence of the aforementioned Germanic words.[1]

• IPA^(key): [ala]

ala f (4th declension)

1. cave (space or cavity formed underground, especially between rocks, or in the face of a cliff or hillside)

   klinšu alas ― rock caves

   pazemes ala ― subterranean cave

   alu labirinti ― cave labyrinths

   alu cilvēks ― caveman

   alu zīmējumi ― cave drawings, paintings

   Abhāzijā atrodas ala, kuras labirinti ir vairāk nekā trīs kilometrus gari ― in Abkhazia there is a cave with labyrinths longer than three kilometers

2. burrow, hole, lair, den (the dwelling of some animals, in the form of a cavity with one or many exits)

   peles, lapsas alas ― mice, fox holes

   āpšu, trušu alas ― badger, rabbit holes, burrows

   rakt alu ― to dig a hole, burrow

   nekā sevišķa tur neredzēja, izņemot nelielu caurumu zemē... likās tā kā kurmja ala ― there was nothing special to see there, except a small whole on the ground... it seemed to be a molehill (lit. hole)

• alu cilvēks

• speleoloģija

ala

1. Latin spelling of ალა (ala)

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.la/, [ˈa.lə̥]

• Audio

  (file)

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *halas, from Proto-Austronesian *Salas. Cognate with Balinese ᬳᬮᬲ᭄ (alas), Javanese ꦲꦭꦱ꧀ (alas).

ala

1. forest

From Proto-Austronesian *alaq (“fetch; get; take”).

ala

1. without; freed from; removed from

• Rhymes: -ə

ala (Jawi spelling الا or على)

1. like
2. according to
3. on

• "ala" in Kamus Dewan, Fourth Edition, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, →ISBN, 2005.
• “ala” in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu | Malay Literary Reference Centre, Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017.

ala f (plural alas)

1. wing
2. (nautical) sail

ala

1. mistake

• Heather and Don Mc Lean, North Wahgi (Yu We) Organised Phonology Data (2005), p. 2

• IPA^(key): /ɑːˈlɑː/

ala m (Arabic spelling ئالا)

1. Alternative form of al (“flag, banner”)

• Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “ala”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 1), volume 1, London: Transnational Press, page 5

-ála

1. to refuse

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

From Proto-Samic *ëlëk.

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈala/

ala

1. over
2. on, on top

• alcces-, alcce-, allas- (locative stems of ieš (“self”))

ala

1. over
2. on, onto, on top of

• Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎, Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

From Old Norse ala, from Proto-Germanic *alaną, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂életi.

• ale (e infinitive)
• ålå (dialectal)

ala (present tense aler or el, past tense alte or ol, past participle alt or ale, present participle alande, imperative al)

1. to foster

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ala

1. definite plural of al

• “ala” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Latin āla.

• IPA^(key): [alo̞]

• Audio

  (file)

ala f (plural alas)

1. wing

From Proto-West Germanic *ālu. Cognates include Old English æl and Old Norse alr.

āla f

1. awl

• German: Ahle

From Proto-Germanic *alaną (“to nourish, grow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂életi, from *h₂el- (“to raise, feed, nourish”). Cognate with Old English alan and Latin alō.

ala (singular present indicative elr, singular past indicative ól, plural past indicative ólu, past participle alinn)

1. to produce
2. to testify
3. to breed
4. to nourish

• Icelandic: ala
• Faroese: ala
• Norwegian Nynorsk: ala
• Norwegian Bokmål: ale
• Old Swedish: ala
  • Swedish: uppala
• Old Danish: alæ
• Old Gutnish: ala

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ala

1. indefinite genitive plural of alr

• ala in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

• IPA^(key): /ˈala/

From Latin āla.

ala f (plural alas)

1. wing (limb)
   • c. 1200, Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 67v. a.

     la p̃mera ſemeiaua leon e auie alas de aguila ueye q̃ meſauan ſus alas e cayen atierra e ſobre ſos piedes como om̃e se leuãtaua

     The first was like a lion, and it had the wings of an eagle. I saw its wings torn off and fall to the ground so that it stood on its feet like a man.

• Ladino: ala (Latin spelling)
• Spanish: ala

A contraction of a (“to, toward, in, at”) + la (“the”); the feminine singular definite article.

ala (plural alas)

1. (followed by a singular feminine noun) to the, toward the
   • c. 1200, Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 2v. b.

     Loth ouo miedo de ſeer en segor esubio alas mõtãnas cõ sus .ij. fijas. estido ẽ una cueua cõ sus .ij. fijas. edixo la maior ala menor. nr̃o padre es uyeio eno nos podremos caſar. com es derecho.

     Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, so he moved to the mountains with his two daughters. There he lived in a cave with his two daughters; then older [daughter] said to the younger: "Our father is old, and [here] we cannot marry as is the custom."

2. (followed by a singular feminine noun) in the, at the
   • c. 1200, Almeric, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 2v. a.

     eſtos angeles cõ q̃ fablo abraã. vinieron a ſodoma e loth ſedia ala puerta de la cibdat. e violos & leuãtos cõtra ellõ.

     These angels to whom Abraham spoke came to Sodom, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. And he saw them and got up to meet them.

• al

• hala (alternative spelling)

From Portuguese ala and Spanish ala.

ala

1. wing

Learned borrowing from Latin āla.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.la/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ala
• Syllabification: a‧la
• Homophone: Ala

ala f

1. (historical, Ancient Rome) ala (Roman allied military unit)

• ala in Polish dictionaries at PWN

• Rhymes: -alɐ
• Hyphenation: a‧la

Learned borrowing from Latin āla. Compare the inherited doublet á.

ala f (plural alas)

1. a flank
   1. (military) a flank unit
   2. (sports) wing (position on either side of the field)
2. (chiefly politics) faction (ideologically distinct group within an organisation)
3. a row among a larger group of people or things
   1. (military) a rank or file of soldiers
   2. (Brazil) a subdivision of a carnival block consisting of similarly themed participants
4. (architecture) wing (part of a building that extends from the main structure)
5. (chess) each player’s half of the chessboard
6. (dated) wing (part of an animal)

ala m or f by sense (plural alas)

1. (sports) wing; winger (player in a wing position)
2. (aviation) wingman (support pilot in a squadron)

• alado
• alar

ala!

1. out! (demanding that someone leave)

   Synonym: fora

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

ala

1. inflection of alar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

From Proto-Polynesian *hala, from Proto-Oceanic *jalan, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *zalan, from Proto-Austronesian *zalan.

ala

1. path, way, lane, track