Animals, plants & weather

alligator

Spaniards in the Americas called the big reptiles el lagarto, 'the lizard'; English sailors heard the article as part of the word and wrote alligarta, later alligator. Americans clipped it to gator, and the English form went on to French, German, Russian and Japanese.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Latin to Old French, Middle English

From Latin to Italian

From Latin to Portuguese

From English to American English

From English to French

From English to German

From English to Russian

From English to Japanese

50 BCELatin

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.

The road to English

Export “alligator”

Embed “alligator”

Save “alligator”

Export “alligator”

Embed “alligator”

Save “alligator”