Etymology

ablaut

ab·lowt
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Today it means: The substitution of one root vowel for another, thus indicating a corresponding modification of use or meaning; vowel permutation, distinct from the phonetic influence of a succeeding vowel. Full definition →

First used Mid 19ᵗʰ century.German Ablaut ← Middle High German lūt ← Old High German lūt
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ep
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂epó
  3. Proto-Germanic*ab
  4. Old High Germanab
  5. Middle High Germanab
  6. Germanab
  7. Germanab-
  8. Proto-Indo-European*ḱel-
  9. Proto-Indo-European*ḱlew-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*ḱlutós
  11. Proto-Germanic*hlūdaz
  12. Proto-West Germanic*hlūd
  13. Old High Germanlūt
  14. Middle High Germanlūt
  15. GermanLaut
  16. GermanAblaut
  17. English todayablaut

Borrowed from German Ablaut (“sound gradation”), which is from ab- or ab (“down, off”), + Laut (“sound”). Ab is used here in the sense of “deviating, varying” as in Abgott (“god other than the true God”), Abart (“different sort, variety, anomality”).

First known use, by meaning

  • Mid 19ᵗʰ century. The substitution of one root vowel for another, thus indicating a corresponding modification of use or meaning; vowel permutation, distinct from the phonetic influence of a succeeding vowel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.