Q&A: ‘Allude’ vs ‘elude’

Each week here at the Australian Writers’ Centre, we dissect and discuss, contort and retort, ask and gasp at the English language and all its rules, regulations and ridiculousness. It’s a celebration of language, masquerading as a passive-aggressive whinge about words and weirdness. This week, allusions of grandeur..

Q: Hi AWC, what’s the difference between “allude” and “elude”?

A: They’re very different – just look at them! But you’re right in that they do get confused often, due to sounding similar.

Q: Are they related in any other way?

A: Well yes actually. They came from the same place but mean quite different things today.

Q: So take me back to the start!

A: Certainly. The 1530s to be precise. And BOTH words originated during this time and meant roughly the same thing – “to mock or make fun of”.

Q: Wait, what? That’s not EITHER of their meanings today!

A: Bizarre, right? “Allude” came directly from the Latin ‘aludere’ meaning “to play, make fun of, joke, jest”. Meanwhile, “elude” came from the very similar Latin ‘eludere’ meaning “make a fool of, mock, frustrate; win from at play”.

Q: Wow, so Latin had two words for the same thing!

A: Similar things. The ‘ludere’ part was of course common to them both – this was the part that meant “to play”, and where we get the word “ludicrous” from.

Q: And the counter game “Ludo”?

A: Yes! It was originally the Indian game “Pachisi” but was adapted in England as “Ludo” in 1896 – the name chosen from the Latin ‘ludo’ for “play”

Q: Very cool.

A: Anyway, so where the two Latin words differed was the “a” in ‘aludere’ was from “ad” – meaning “to”. Meanwhile, the “e” in ‘eludere’ was from “ex” – meaning “out; away”. And this gives a few clues to the separate paths they would end up taking.

Q: Please! Lead me down those paths!

A: Well, “allude” almost immediately narrowed its definition to mean being “to be playful” in referencing someone – initially in metaphor form. By the 1550s, we also see the word “allusion” emerge – again, with an initial meaning of a “word play; joke”. By the 1610s however, both would come to mean “passing or casual reference” – as “playing with, or reference to” someone without saying their name. We even got the word “allusive” from this too.

Q: Wait, “allusive”?

A: Not to be confused with “elusive”!

Q: Oh dear.

A: So that brings us nicely to “elude”. Remember how it started out also with a mocking, joking meaning?

Q: I do indeed.

A: Well, it spawned the word “elusion” in the 1540s – which meant to escape by artifice or deceit. A playful way of getting “out” or “away”, if you will. And by the 1610s, “elude” came to mean a similar thing of evading – initially in a figurative sense, but by the 1630s it meant to literally run and hide.

Q: Ready or not, here I come … with more questions!

A: Haha, sure. Fire away.

Q: So, you’re telling me, as well as “allude” and “elude”, we also had “allusion” and “elusion” plus “allusive” and “elusive” too?

A: Yes! Although that last one, “elusive” came along later – in the 1700s. It is, however, used far more than “allusive” today.

Q: Yes, “allusive” does seem rather elusive to most people’s vocabularies.

A: Nice. And of course, it’s the other way around with “allusion” vs “elusion” – we’re far more likely to see “allusion” being, well, alluded to.

Q: So, essentially by the 1630s, these meanings were locked in?

A: Yeah, today’s meanings are pretty close. According to the Macquarie Dictionary, “allude” means “refer casually or indirectly to” – and is always used with “to”. For example, “in stating her case, she alluded to his poor hygiene”.

Q: Gosh, that example sounds intriguing! I think it’s a break-up.

A: And “elude” means to “avoid or escape; to evade”. This can be physically, like in “the killer continued to elude the detective” or mentally, such as “the meaning of this poem eludes me”. Same thing.

Q: And despite their beginnings, there’s not a mocking joke between them!

A: You might say that they’ve matured into more sensible words.

Q: Wait, what about “delude”?

A: Good question. That also came from a similar Latin word – but this time it was ‘deludere’, with the “de” meaning “to one’s detriment”. And unlike the others, this word kept the playful nature of ‘ludere’ – with today’s meaning being “to play false; to mock or deceive”.

Q: That reminds me, I have to go visit my grandpa. He’s been having delusions of grandma and we need to break the news to him that she’s gone to a better place.

A: Oh, that’s rather sad. When did she pass away?

Q: What? No, I’m alluding to her 27-year-old yoga instructor Carlo… She ran off with him and has a much better place, on the ocean and everything. But she can’t elude grandpa and her family forever!

A: Oh dear…

Do you have a question you’d like us to explore? Email it to us today!