alligator (French)

Where does "alligator" come from?

The French word for 'alligator' was borrowed from English, but its roots trace back to the Spanish phrase 'el lagarto,' meaning 'the lizard.' This Spanish term originated from the Latin 'lacertus,' while the definite article 'el' evolved from the Latin 'ille,' which originally meant 'that' or 'other' in Proto-Indo-European. The English spelling likely shifted from 'aligarto' to its modern form due to the influence of a similar-sounding Latin verb meaning 'to bind.'

Full etymology tree

• alligator (French), 'alligator (animal)'
  • borrowed from alligator (English), 'Either of two species of large amphibious reptile, Alligator mississippiensis or Alligator sinensis, in the genus Alligator within order Crocodilia, which have sharp teeth and very strong jaws and are native to the Americas and China, respectively.'
    • borrowed from el lagarto (Spanish)
      • compound of el (Spanish), 'masculine singular definite article; the'
        • inherited from ille (Latin), 'that, yon; those'
          • inherited from *olnos (Proto-Italic), 'that'
            • inherited from *h2el- (Proto-Indo-European)
          • semantic loan from is (Latin), 'this or that man, woman or thing; he, she, it, they (previously introduced)'
          • semantic loan from iste (Latin), 'that (near you); those (in the plural)'
      • compound of lagarto (Spanish), 'lizard'
        • inherited from lagarto (Old Spanish), 'lizard'
          • inherited from lacertus (Latin), 'alternative form of lacerta: a lizard'
    • semantic loan from alligator (Latin), 'one who ties or binds'

Ancestors

• alligator (English)

Updated March 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris