- Alp
- 1590s, "any high, snow-capped mountain," from Alps, from Fr. Alpes, from L. Alpes "the Alps," perhaps from altus "high," or albus "white" or from a Celtic word (according to Servius), or a pre-I.E. root. Alpenstock (1829) "long iron-pointed staff used for hiking in mountains" is Ger., lit. "Alpine stick."
- dolomite
- 1794, named for Fr. geologist Déodat De Gratet De Dolomieu (1750-1801) who described the rock in his study of the Alps (1791).
- Alpine
- "of the Alps," 1607, see Alp. Earlier was Alpish (1590s).
- Rhaetian
- 1600, from L. Rhætia, ancient name of a district in the Alps and Roman province between the Rhine, Danube, and Po. Hence Rhæto-Romanic (1867), language of the Tyrol and southern Switzerland.
- ibex
- 1607, from L. ibex "wild goat of the Alps and Apennines," from a pre-L. Alpine language. The Ger. steinbock.
- ultramontane
- 1592, from M.Fr. ultramontain "beyond the mountains" (especially the Alps), from O.Fr. (1323), from L. ultra "beyond" + stem of mons (see mountain). Used especially of papal authority, though "connotation varies according to the position of the speaker or writer." [Weekley]
- Albania
- M.L. name of the country called by its inhabitants Shqipëri (lit. "land of eagles," from shqiponje "eagle"), from Medieval Gk. Albania, possibly from a pre-IE word *alb "hill" (also proposed as the source of Alps) or from the IE root *alb "white." Roman Albania was a land by the Caspian Sea.
- chartreuse
- type of liqueur, 1866, from monastery of Carthusian order, which was founded 11c. and named for the massif de la Chartreuse (M.L. Carthusianus) mountain group in the Fr. Alps, where its first monastery was built. The liqueur recipe dates from early 17c.; the original now marketed as Les Pères Chartreux. The color (1884) is so called from resemblance to the pale apple-green hue of the best type of the liqueur.
- Albion
- ancient name of England, O.E., from L., sometimes said to be from the non-I.E. base *alb "mountain," which also is suggested as the source of L. Alpes "Alps," Albania, and Alba, an Ir. name for "Scotland." But more likely from L. albus "white" (see alb), which would be an apt description of the chalk cliffs of the island's southern coast.
"Breoton is garsecges ealond, ðæt wæs iu geara Albion haten." [translation of Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum," c.900 C.E.]
Perfidious Albion translates Fr. rhetorical phrase la perfide Albion, said to have been in use since 16c., but popularized by Napoleon I in the recruiting drive of 1813, a reference to the treacherous policies of Britain in dealing with foreign powers. - dauphin
- "eldest son of the king of France" (title in use from 1349-1830), 1485, from Fr. dauphin, lit. "dolphin" (see dolphin). Originally the title attached to "the Dauphin of Viennois," whose province (in the Fr. Alps north of Provence) came to be known as Dauphiné. Three dolphins were on the coat of arms of the lords of Viennois, first worn by Guido IV (d.1142). It is said to have been originally a personal name among the lords of Viennois. Humbert III, the last lord of Dauphiné, ceded the province to Philip of Valois in 1349, on condition that the title be perpetuated by the eldest son of the king of France.