Emily Dickinson Lexicon

AE, n. [Æ,]

A diphthong in the Latin language; used also by the Saxon writers. It answers to the Gr. αι. The Sax. æ has been changed into e or ea. In derivatives from the learned languages, it is mostly superseded by e, and convenience seems to require it to be wholly rejected in anglicized words. For such words as may be found with this initial combination, the reader will therefore search under the letter E.