The story
- Old English · inherited fromhōfe“ground-ivy”
- Middle English · inherited fromale-hōve
- English todayalehoof
From Middle English ale-hōve from ale (it was used in beer and ale before the introduction of hops) + hōve (“ground-ivy”) (from Old English hōfe (“ground-ivy”)).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.