Alloy
late 16th century: from Old French aloi (noun) and French aloyer (verb), both from Old French aloier, aleier ‘combine’, from Latin alligare ‘bind’. In early use the term denoted the comparative purity of gold or silver; the sense ‘mixture of metals’ arose in the mid 17th century.
wiktionary
From Anglo-Norman alai, from Old French aloi, from aloiier, from Latin alligō.
From Old French aloiier(“assemble, join”), from Latin alligare(“bind to, tie to”), compound of ad(“to”) + ligare(“to bind”).
etymonline
alloy (n.)
early 14c. "relative freedom of a noble metal from alloy or other impurities," from Anglo-French alai, Old French aloi "alloy," from aloiier (see alloy (v.)). Meaning " base metal alloyed with a noble metal" is from c. 1400. Modern spelling from late 17c. Meaning "any mixture of metals," without reference to values is from 1827.
alloy (v.)
c. 1400, "mix (a metal) with a baser metal," from Old French aloiier, aliier "assemble, join," from Latin alligare "bind to, tie to," from ad "to" (see ad-) + ligare "to bind, bind one thing to another, tie" (from PIE root *leig- "to tie, bind"). In figurative use often implying debasement or reduction. Meaning "to mix any two metals" without reference to values is from 1822. Related: Alloyed; alloying.
