The story
- Old English · inherited fromalfæt“fire-vat”
- Medieval Latin · derived fromalfetum
- English todayalfet
From Medieval Latin alfetum, from Old English alfæt (“fire-vat”), from āl (“fire”) + fæt (“vat”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
alfet
Today it means: A cauldron of boiling water into which an accused person plunged his forearm, used as a form of trial in Medieval England. Full definition →
Medieval Latin alfetum ← Old English alfæt