An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Almosen

by Friedrich Kluge

Almosen, n., ‘alms, charity,’ from the equiv. MidHG. almuosan, OHG. alamuosan alamôsan, n.; corresponds to Du. aalmoes, AS. œlmesse, E. alms, OIc. ǫlmusa, f.,’ alms.’ The derivation from Lat.-Gr. ἐλεημοσύνη, ‘sympathy, compassion, alms,’ is incontestable; as the OHG. collateral form elemosyna, elimosina indicates, the Lat.-Gr. origin was as firmly accepted in the OHG. period as the derivation of OHG. chirihha, ‘church,’ from κυριακόν. Yet the question remains how the ecclesiastical word found its way so early into the Teut. languages, so as to become a common possession of the MidEurop. and Northern Teutons. The absence of a corresponding Goth. word is explained by the fact that we obtained the word from the Rom. nations, as the congruent phonetic form proves: common Rom. alimǫsna, in accordance with Fr. aumône, OFr. almosne, Prov. almosna, Ital. limosina; allied also to OIr. almsan, OSlov. almušino, Lith. jalmūšnas.