ale
AYL · noun
Origin
English ale comes from Middle English ale, from Old English ealu or ealo, from Proto-West Germanic *alu, from Proto-Germanic *alu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elut- ("beer") or *h₂elu- ("bitter").
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Journey
The word has stayed remarkably steady in meaning across its history, referring to a fermented malt drink from Old English straight through to today.
Related words
It's cognate with Swedish and Icelandic öl and Danish, Norwegian, and Faroese øl, all meaning "beer" — a whole family of Germanic words for the same brew.