What does aliment mean?
Aliment means food or nourishment — literally whatever sustains a living body. The word comes from the Latin 'alimentum', rooted in 'alere', meaning to nourish or support, which also gave us 'alimony', 'alumnus', and 'adolescent'. Though once a common way of describing provisions and meals, aliment has faded from everyday speech and now appears chiefly in formal registers: historical writing, medicine, and law. In Scots law it remains a live technical term, denoting the financial maintenance one person owes another, such as a parent's duty toward a child — a direct descendant of the older sense of providing bodily sustenance. Because of its rarity, aliment lends a text an archaic, scholarly flavor, and writers today more often reach for 'nourishment' or 'sustenance'. Its enduring interest lies less in current usage than in its etymology, which ties together a family of words all concerned with feeding, supporting, and sustaining human life.
nounFood or nourishment; that which sustains life. More broadly, anything that provides support or sustenance.
- Food or nourishment; that which feeds and sustains a living being.
- (Formal/legal) That which supports or maintains; in Scots law, a payment for the maintenance of a dependent person.
"Bread and cheese were the simple aliments of the monks' daily table."
"The physician prescribed a bland diet of gentle aliments during her recovery."
"Under Scots law, a parent may be obliged to pay aliment for the support of a child."
The plural is used when referring to multiple kinds of food or sources of sustenance, typically in historical or medical prose.
"The ship's stores held only hard biscuit and salted meat as aliments for the long voyage."
Every time someone pays or receives alimony, they're using a word born from the same Latin root as 'aliment' — the ancient idea of being legally bound to feed someone.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of aliment
Aliment derives from the Latin 'alimentum', meaning food or nourishment, built on the verb 'alere', to nourish or sustain. This same root produced a family of English words including 'alimony', 'alumnus', 'adolescent', and 'alimentary'. The word entered English in the medieval period through Old French and remained in general use for centuries before receding into formal and legal contexts, where it survives today, particularly in Scots law.
Related word forms
How aliment is actually used
Aliment is now rare in everyday English, surviving mainly in formal, historical, medical, and legal contexts — notably Scots law, where it retains an active technical meaning as maintenance owed to a dependent. It carries a neutral, somewhat archaic tone; modern writers usually prefer 'food', 'nourishment', or 'sustenance'.
Easily confused with aliment
Though both derive from the Latin 'alere' (to nourish), alimony is a court-ordered payment to a former spouse after divorce, whereas aliment means food or nourishment itself.
Element refers to a fundamental component or substance, while aliment specifically denotes food or sustenance.