Aloft

How to spell aloft

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce aloft

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does aloft mean?

1. adverbUp high in the air or far above the ground, often among the upper parts of a ship or structure.

Aloft in a sentence

• The flags flew aloft above the stadium throughout the match.

• The sailors climbed aloft to adjust the rigging before the storm hit.

Where does aloft come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

Aloft comes from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings who settled across northern England, where the phrase 'á lopt' literally meant 'in the air' or 'up into the sky'. The element 'á' meant 'on' or 'in', and 'lopt' meant 'air, sky, or upper region', a word closely related to the same root that gives modern English 'loft', the upper space under a roof. The two parts fused into a single adverb during the Middle English period, around the 1200s, keeping the sense of being raised high above the ground. Sailors took to the word eagerly, using it to describe climbing up among a ship's masts and rigging, and that nautical flavour still clings to it today. Because the original 'á lopt' has long since blended into one word, the single 'l' and the silent shift in spelling can catch writers out, though picturing 'a loft' high above helps fix it.

How the word is built

• a- (on, in)
• loft (air, sky, upper region, from Old Norse lopt)