alec

¹ American  

[al-ik] / ˈæl ɪk /

noun

Obsolete.

1. a herring.

2. a sauce or relish made from small herring or anchovies.

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alec ² American  

[al-ik] / ˈæl ɪk /

noun

Australian.

1. a simpleton or fool.

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Alec ³ American  

[al-ik] / ˈæl ɪk /

Or Aleck

noun

1. a first name, form of Alexander.

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Etymology

Origin of alec¹

1510–20; < Latin ( h ) al ( l ) ec fish sauce

Origin of alec²

1920–25; smart aleck ( def. ); sense shift perhaps originally from ironic usage

Example Sentences

Tensions flared after OpenAI researcher Alec Radford laid the groundwork for large language models and the lab’s Generative Pre-Trained Transformer, or GPT, series.

From The Wall Street Journal

Alec Bohm grew up in Omaha and starred at Wichita State before the Philadelphia Phillies made him the third overall pick in the 2018 MLB draft.

From Los Angeles Times

Bohm’s lawsuit also alleges his parents used money from the Alec Bohm Foundation to pay their expenses.

From Los Angeles Times

Sir Alec sold just 25 jugs in the period 2020-25, including just two last year.

From BBC

The least popular PM over the past five years was Sir Alec Douglas-Home, a Conservative who only served as prime minister for 363 days from 1963-64, when he lost the election to Wilson's Labour, who won a four-seat majority.

From BBC