alow

A1L1O1W4
UK/əˈləʊ/

adverb

Low down.

OriginMiddle English alowe →
UncommonFirst used 14th c.Scrabble 7
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Meanings

alow1

adverbalow (not comparable)
  1. Scotlandnot comparableLow down.First known use 14th c.

    Sometimes aloft he layd, sometimes alow, / Now here, now there, and oft him neare he mist […].

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
  2. not comparablenauticalTowards the lower part of a vessel; towards the lower rigging or the decks.First known use 16th c.

    Ay, Ay, Ay, all is up; and I must up too / Early in the morning, aloft from alow.

    1924, Herman Melville, chapter 26, in Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co.
    1 more example

    I think you said something concerning the manner in which yonder ship has anchored, and of the condition they keep things alow and aloft?

    1859, James Fenimore Cooper, The Red Rover: A Tale
preposition
  1. ScotlandBelow.

alow2

adjectivealow (not comparable)
  1. Scotlandnot comparablealight; ablaze

Origin

alow · adverb, preposition

  1. Middle Englishalowe
  2. Englishalow

From Middle English alowe, equivalent to a- + low.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

alow · adjective

From a- + low, from low (“flame”).

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

awol
Cite this entry
APA

alow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alow

MLA

“alow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alow. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alow.

Source: alow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.