# An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/L (full text)

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L.
Lab, n., rennet,’ from MidHG. lap(d), n., ‘rennet,’ also ‘acid fluid,’ OHG. lab, ‘broth’; it is not improbable, since the latter is the prim. meaning, that the word is further cognate with OTeut. terms for ‘medicine.’ Goth. lubja, f., ‘poison,’ AS. lyb, ‘poison,’ OIc. lyf, ‘medicine, OHG. luppi, n., ‘deadly juice.’ Note specially MidHG. kœseluppe, f., OHG. châsiluppa, AS. cŷs-lyb, equiv. to MidHG. kœ̂se-lap. The way in which Lab is related by gradation to lubja corresponds perhaps to that of HG. Nase to AS. nosu, E. nose. The prim. meaning of the stem seems to be ‘strong, sharp perfume; plant juice’; OIc. lyf, ‘medicine,’ and Goth. lubja, ‘poison,’ are differentiations of the same orig. sense.
Labberdan, m., ‘codfish,’ ModHG. only, from LG.; to this are allied, with remarkable divergences, Du. labberdaan, earlier abberdaan and slabberdaan, and E. haberdine, with the same sense. The word is based not on the name of the Scotch town Aberdeen, but on tractus Laburdanus, a part of the Basque country (Bayonne used to be called Laburdum, Fr. Labourd), It must have been introduced into the Netherlands through a Fr. medium; the form abberdaen is due to the error of regarding the initial l as the article. Comp. also Kabliau.
laben, vb., ‘to refresh,’ from MidHG. laben, OHG. labôn (comp. AS. gelafian), ‘to wash, quicken, refresh.’ If we take into consideration Tacitus' account of the fondness of the Teutons for bathing, we can readily conceive how the meaning ‘to refresh’ was evolved from ‘to wash’; the reverse course is also possible, as is shown perhaps by ModHG. sich erfrischen, sich stärken, in the sense of ‘to drink,’ The former is the more probable, on account of MidHG. lap (b), ‘bilge water’; there is, however, no connection with Lat. lavare, Gr. λούειν. —
Labe, f., ‘refreshment,’ from the equiv. MidHG. labe, OHG. laba, f.
Lache, f., from the equiv. MidHG. lache, OHG. lahha, f., ‘puddle, pool, water in an excavation.’ The OHG. word cannot be derived from Lat. lăcus, ‘lake,’ which may, however, be the origin of MidE. and E. lake, while AS. lagu, ‘lake,’ shows what form the Teut. word cognate with the Lat. term would assume. The attempt to connect Lache (Bav. lacke) and lacus is also opposed by the difference in meaning; Ital. lacca, ‘low ground,’ and OSlov. loky are G. loan-words. The origin of Lache remains obscure; it is scarcely allied to leck and its cognates.
lachen, vb., ‘to laugh,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lachen, OHG. lahhên, lahhan, earlier hlahhan; the hk of the HG. is due, according to Goth. hlahjan (pret. hlôh), ‘to laugh,’ to an older hj, AS. hlyhhan, E. to laugh, and the equiv. Du. lachen. In the non-Teut. languages the stem hlah, pre-Teut. klak (probably onomatopoetic, like the cognates of klingen or Lith. klegĕti, ‘to be noisy, laugh loudly’), is not positively authenticated. — Derivative Lache, f., ‘laugh,’ from MidHG. lache, f., ‘laughing,’ comp. E. laughter, AS. hleahtor, MidHG. lahter, ‘laughter.’ Lächeln, vb. ‘to smile,’ from MidHG. lęcheln, is a frequentative of lachen.
Lachs, m., ‘salmon,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lahs (plur. lęhse), OHG. lahs; corresponding to AS. leax, OIc. lax, Scotch lax; a common and prim. Teut. term for ‘salmon’; in Goth. perhaps *lahs. The Slav. and Lith. words are cognate; Lith. lasziszà, Lett. lasis, Russ. lososŭ, ‘salmon trout,’ Pol. lasóš, ‘salmon.’ Hence the s in OHG. lahs is a suffix (comp. Fuchs), and not a part of the root.
Lachter, n. and f., ‘fathom,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lâhter, lâfter (MidG.); its early history is obscure; the stem is not the same as in Klafter,
Lade, f., ‘chest, box, press,’ from MidHG. lade (OHG. *lada, *hlada?), f., ‘receptacle, chest’; Lade is prop. an ‘arrangement for loading’; the corresponding OIc. hlaþa means ‘barn, storehouse,’ so too MidE. laþe, whence E. lathe. For further references comp. the vb. laden. It is also probable that Lade is connected with the following subst. Laden; in that case the prim. meaning would be ‘trunk made of boards.’
Laden, m., ‘shop, shutter,’ from MidHG. laden, lade, m., ‘board, plank, shutter, shop.’ The meaning of MidHG. lade, ‘board,’ is the orig. one, hence the derivation of the word from the vb. laden must be rejected in favour of its connection with ModHG. Latte; since the latter in Goth. ​would be represented by *laþþô, and Lade by *laþa, we might assume a root laþ, pre-Teut. lat, meaning ‘board’; comp. Latte.
laden (1.), vb., ‘to load, charge, burden,’ from the equiv. MidHG. laden, OHG. ladan (earlier hladan); corresponding to Goth. hlaþan, AS. hladan, E. to lade. The d of the AS. word compared with the þ of the Goth. and d of the HG. is abnormal; the irregularity is probably on the side of the Goth. and OHG., which produced a grammatical change as though the Aryan dental were t. In fact, however, it is dh (hladan, hlôd, hlôdum, hladans, not hlaþan, hlôþ, hlôdum, hladans); comp. OSlov. kladą (klasti), ‘to lay,’ which, with E. to lade, proves the existence of an Aryan root kladh. Comp. Last and Lade.
laden (2.), vb., ‘to summon, invite,’ from the equiv. MidHG. laden, OHG. ladôn; distinguished from laden (1) by the initial sound; laden, ‘onerare,’ had orig. initial hl, while laden, ‘invitare,’ has always had a simple l only; Goth. laþôn, ‘to summon,’ AS. laþian (obsolete in E.). The Teut. root is laþ, the meaning of which is indicated by Goth. laþôns, f., ‘calling, consolation, redemption,’ the adv. laþaleikô, ‘very willingly,’ and ModHG. Luder. Some such idea as ‘to treat affectionately, beg,’ must be regarded as the orig. sense; a root lat with this meaning has not yet been found in the other Aryan languages. Further, the word cannot possibly be connected with Gr. καλεῖν, κλη-τός, &c., to which ModHG. holen more probably belongs.
Laffe, m., ‘puppy, dandy,’ from MidHG. lape, lappe, m., ‘simpleton, dandy.’ The relation of ModHG. Lump to Lumpen makes the existence of MidHG. lappe, ‘dandy,’ as well as *lappe, ‘rags,’ conceivable; yet the ModHG. form has ff compared with the MidHG. pp; comp. läppich. Others refer Laffe to Du. and LG. laf, ‘stale, insipid.’
Lage, (illegible text)., ‘situation,’ from MidHG. lâge, OHG. lâga, f., ‘putting, arranging, situation’; from liegen. So too ModHG. Lager, n. (prop. Leger), from MidHG. lëger, OHG. lëgar, m., ‘camp’; comp. E. lair.
Lägel, see Legel.
lahm, adj., ‘lame,’ from MidHG. and OHG. lam (gen. lames), ‘weak in the limbs, lame.’ The more general meaning, ‘weak in the limbs,’ is the orig. one, since an adj. with a different gradation belonging to the same stem — OHG. luomi, MidHG. lüeme — signifies ‘wearied, relaxed,’ and even ‘gentle.’ Yet OIc. lame, AS. lama, E. lame, OSax. lamo, and Du. lam, ‘lame,’ show that the prevalent ModHG. meaning is primitive (in Goth. halts, AS. halt, equiv. to Lat. claudus, Sans. khoḍa). An old lama-, ‘weak, infirm’ (from which Prov. lam is borrowed), suggests OSlov. lomlją (lomiti), ‘to break’ (root lam); Russ. lomóta, ‘rheumatic pains.’ Comp. also Scand. lemja, ‘to lame, disable.’
Lahn, m., ‘tinsel,’ ModHG. only, from F. lame, f., ‘thin metal plate, wire.’
Laib, m., ‘loaf,’ from MidHG. and OHG. leip (b), m. (early OHG. hleib), ‘bread.’ It is the earlier Teut. term for the modern Brot, which is unknown to Goth., and almost so to AS. Comp. Goth. hlaifs (gen. hlaibis), AS. hlâf, E. loaf; to these Goth. gahlaiba and OHG. gileibo, m., ‘companion,’ are allied; comp. Kumpan. E. lord, from AS. hlâford (Goth. *hlaibwards), ‘lord,’ lit. ‘bread guardian,’ as well as E. lady, from AS. hlœ̂fdige, ‘domina’ (lit. ‘bread distributor’), contains HG. Laib in the compound; comp. E. Lammas (Aug. 1), from AS. hlafmœsse, ‘bread-feast as a sort of harvest thanksgiving festival.’ These primit. compounds prove the great antiquity of Laib and the more recent origin of Brot. Slav. borrowed its chlěbŭ, ‘bread’ (whence Lith. klëpas, Lett. klaipas, ‘bread’), from an OTeut. dialect (the OTeut. word being also found in Finn. and Esthon. — Finn. leipä, Esthon. leip, ‘bread’). See Lebkuchen.
Laich, m., and n., ‘spawn,’ doubtlessly a prim. word, though first recorded in late MidHG.; corresponding to MidLG. lêk, Swed. lek, Dan. leeg. The Goth. form is perhaps *laik, and thus the connection of Laich with Teut.-Goth. laikan, ‘to leap,’ is conceivable. Dialectically Laich signifies ‘lusus venereus’ (comp. Leich).
Laie, m., ‘layman, novice,’ from the equiv. MidHG. leie, leige, OHG. leigo, leijo, m., ‘laïcus,’ (It is based on a Romanised Lat. laïcus, whence also AS. lœwed, ‘layman,’ E. lewd). The word was probably borrowed at a later period than the other ecclesiastical terms Priester and Probst.
Laken, m. and n., ‘sheet, shroud,’ ModHG. only, from LG. (OLG. lakan); in HG. prop. Lachen, MidHG. lachen, OHG. lahhan. Westphalia sent a great deal of linen (comp. Linnen) to South Germany, hence the LG. may have supplanted the HG. form. Allied to MidE. lake and ModHG. Leilach.
​ Lakritze, f., ‘licorice,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. lakerítze; from MidLat. liquirítia (the a in the first syllable of the G. word is due to the unaccented i), equiv. to Gr. γλυκύρριζα (with the modern pronunciation of the vowels). Words originally Gr. and used by medical science in the Middle Ages are preserved in Arzt, Büchse, Pflaster, Latwerge, &c.
lallen, vb., ‘to stammer,’ from MidHG. ‘to speak indistinctly, stammer’; the corresponding OIc. lalla, ‘to totter like a child walking,’ shows a curious figurative application of the word. Gr. λαλεῖν, Lat. lallâre, and HG. lallen are scarcely cognate; they are rather independent imitative words separately coined in each language.
Lambertsnuß, f., ‘filbert,’ instinctively connected by Germans with St. Lambert, but the historic term is lombardische Nuß, ‘Lombard nut’; MidHG. Lambardîe, Lombardîe, and Lámpart,’ ‘Lombardy, Italy.’ Comp. Walnuß.
Lamm, n., ‘lamb,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lamp (plur. lember), OHG. lamb (plur. lęmbir), n. It corresponds to Goth. lamb, AS. lomb, E. lamb, Du. lam, ‘lamb’; a prim. Teut. term which passed also into Finn. (lammas, gen. lampaan). Cognates in the non-Teut. languages have not yet been found.
Lampe, f., ‘lamp,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lampe, f., which is formed from Fr. lampe (Gr. λαμπάξ), whence also E. lamp. Comp. Ampel. —
Lampe, m., ‘hare,’ is probably a pet term for Lamprecht, Lantbrecht, Lambert; its relation to Fr. lapin, Du. lamprei, ‘rabbit,’ is obscure.
Lamprete, ‘lamprey,’ from MidHG. lamprête, also corrupted into lemfride, lantfride, &c. OHG. (lamprêta, formed from Lat. lamprêda (whence Fr. lamproie, E. lamprey), with the variant lampetra, lit. ‘stone-licker.’
Land, n., ‘land, country,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lant (d), OHG. lant (t), n.; a common Teut. word; comp. Goth. land, ‘district, estate, native country,’ OIc., AS., E., Du., and OSax. land, ‘country, land.’ To these are prim. allied Ir. land, lann, W. llan, Corn lan (from the primit. form *landhâ), ‘open space, area, small enclosure, yard,’ Bret. lan, ‘heath,’ as well as OSlov. lędina, ‘heath, uncultivated land’ (Russ. ljada, ljadina), with which Swed. dial. linda, ‘fallow field,’ agrees in the vowel sounds. Hence Land is native to the North of Europe, while Acker has a far wider diffusion. The Rom. cognates, Ital. landa and Fr. lande, ‘heath, plain,’ are derived from Kelt. rather than from Teut.
lang, adj., ‘long,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lanc (g), OHG. (and OSax.) lang; it corresponds to AS. and E. long, Goth. laggs, OIc. langr, Du. and LG. lang. A common Teut. adj. primit. allied to Lat. longus; it also cognates, perhaps, with OPers. drânga, so that in Lat. and Teut. a dental (d or dh) may have been lost; Gr. δολιχός, OSlov. dlŭgŭ, Sans. dîrghás, ‘long,’ are certainly not allied. —
ModHG. langsam, adj., ‘slow,’ is one of the earliest forms ending in sam (in Goth. only lustusams, ‘delightful, longed for’); AS. longsum, ‘tedious, continuous,’ OSax. langsam. In OHG., besides langsam, ‘lasting a long time,’ there exists a form langseimi, ‘lingering,’ and in MidHG. lancsam, adj. and adv., ‘slow,’ as well as lancseime, ‘lingering, slow’; in ModHG. langseim became obsolete, and its meaning has been transferred to langsam.
Lanze, f., ‘lance,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lanze, f., which was formed from OFr. lance (Lat. lancea, comp. Ital. lancia).
Lappalie, f., ‘trifle, bauble, nonsense,’ ModHG. only, from ModHG. Lappe, with a Lat. termination and accent; comp. Schmieralien.
Lappen, Lappe, m., ‘rag, patch,’ from MidHG. lappe, f. and m.; OHG. lappa, f., ‘piece of stuff hanging loose, rag’; comp. AS. lœppa, ‘hem, lappet,’ E. lap, and Du. lap. The irregular correspondence of AS. pp to HG. pp is obscure (AS. pp ought to be pf in HG.). We may compare Gr. λοβός, ‘lobe,’ or preferably Lith. lópas, ‘patch, rag,’ lópyti, ‘to patch.’
läppisch, adj., ‘silly, foolish,’ ModHG. only, allied to MidHG. lappe, ‘dandy, simpleton,’ which is preserved in earlier HG., and still in the dial. Lappe; comp. Laffe.
Lärche, f., ‘larch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęrche, larche; OHG. *larihha is by chance not recorded, but Lat. larix (acc. larĭcem, comp. Kelch from Lat. calicem) necessarily leads to OHG. *larik, and then by permutation and mutation to *lęrihha. The permutation of k to ch, and the fact that the word is based on a Lat. term pronounced larikem (E. larch), point to a very early adoption; comp. Kelch.
Lärm, m., ‘alarm, noise,’ ModHG. only; like E. larum, it originated in Fr. ​alarme (from Ital. allarme) by dropping the unaccented initial vowel; prop. a military term identical with Alarm.
Larve, f., ‘spectre mask, larva, grub,’ ModHG. only, from Lat. larva, with the v pronounced as f, as in HG. Brief, Käfig, and Vers.
lasch, adj., ‘slack,’ from MidHG. and OHG. *lasc; comp. OIc. lǫskr (Goth. *lasqs-), adj., ‘slack, weary’; formed with a suffix sk from the root laß, lassen (Goth. *lasqa- would represent *latsqa-). Yet it is not improbable, since lasch is first recorded in ModHG., that the root was borrowed from a Rom. class similar in sound (comp. Fr. lâche, Ital. lasco,‘idle’).
Lasche, f., ‘flap, lappet,’ from MidHG. lasche, f., ‘shred, rag’; it is conceivable that the word is related to Lappe, whose labial may have been lost before sch; hence OHG. *laska for *lafska?.
Lase, f., ‘pitcher, can,’ a MidHG. word, not recorded in OHG. and MidHG.; probably connected with lassen.
lassen, vb., ‘to let, leave,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lâȥen, OHG. lâȥȥan, str. vb.; comp. AS. lœ̂tan, E. to let, Du. laten, OIc. láta, Goth. lêtan; the pre-Teut. form of the common Teut. root lêt, ‘to leave,’ is lêd (with lad as a weaker gradation, comp. laß). The only certain cognate in the other Aryan languages is the Lat. word lassus, ‘faint, languid,’ quoted under laß; hence ‘to relax, release,’ is probably the prim. meaning of the verbal stem. From this, MidHG. lâȥen, both simply and in compounds, evolved the meanings ‘to set free, omit, leave behind,’ &c., as in ModHG.
Last, f. (UpG. masc.), from the equiv. MidHG. and MidLG. last, f. and m., ‘burden,’ OHG. last (earlier hlast); allied to laden Goth. hlaþan); the st is a suffix before which the final dental of the verbal stem hlaþ necessarily disappeared, AS. hlœst, n. E. last. In Scand. an old to- partic. assumed the meaning ‘waggon-load,’ hlass, n. (for *hlaþto-). The G. word passed into Rom. (Fr. lest, m., ‘ballast,’ laste, m., Ital. lasto, ‘load of shipping’). For further references comp. laden.
Laster, n., ‘vice, crime,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. laster, n., ‘abuse, disgrace, mistake,’ OHG. lastar, n. It is connected with a str. vb. lahan (for the loss of h before s comp. Mist) preserved in OHG., equiv. to AS. leán, ‘to blame.’ Pre-Teut. lahstra- is formed from the verbal stem lah with the suffix stra-, which represents the earlier form tra seen in AS. leahtor, n., ‘reproach, sin’ (obsolete in E.). Another derivative from the same stem is seen in Scand. lǫstr (Goth. *lahstus), MidE. last, ‘mistake, defect.’ In the non-Teut. languages the word may be compared with OIr. locht (from lokto-), ‘mistake.’
laß, adj., ‘inactive, idle,’ from MidHG. laȥ (ȥȥ), ‘faint, idle, tardy’ (see letzen); it corresponds to Goth. lats, OIc. latr, AS. lœt, MidLG. lat, adj., ‘sluggish, idle, lazy.’ A pre-Teut. adj. formed by gradation from the stem of lassen, lêt, of which lăt- is the weak form (see schlaff, OHG. slăf, from the root slêp). The close correspondence with Lat. lassus may be accounted for historically; lassus is an old partic. for *ladtus; lad is the pre-Teut. root on which ModHG. laß is based; comp. lasch, lassen, and letzt. The assumption, however, that HG. laß was borrowed from the Rom. cognates (Ital. lasso, Fr. las, Lat. lassus) is inconceivable.
lateinisch, adj., ‘Latin,’ with the foreign accent, in contrast to the E. term. The diphthong of the second syllable proves that the adj. was naturalized previous to ModHG. MidHG. latînisch, OHG. latînisc, which was adopted in the OHG. period, as is proved by the non-permutation of t (latînus) to HG. ȥȥ, was used chiefly in the monastic schools, in which Latin was cultivated as the language of the Church.
Laterne, f., ‘lantern,’ from the equiv. MidHG. latërne (lantërne), f.; borrowed with the retention of the foreign accent from Lat. laterna (Fr. lanterne, E. lantern).
Latte, f., ‘lath,’ from the equiv. MidHG. late, latte, OHG. latta, f.; it corresponds to Du. lat, AS. lœtta (lœþþa?), MidE. laþþe, E. lath; a difficult word both grammatically and etymologically. The correspondence of tt in AS. lœtta and OHG. latta is abnormal (AS. tt ought to be HG. tz, only AS. þþ corresponds to a HG. tt). Unfortunately a corresponding word is wanting both in Scand. and Goth. Yet there is no need to regard the cognates as foreign; since ModHG. Laden is cognate, the Teut. origin of the word is established. Hence from HG. Latte an allied Rom. class has been rightly derived — Fr. latte, Ital. latta, ‘flat wooden pole.’ To the Teut. cognates Ir. slath (Bret. laz), ‘rod, pole,’ from the base slattâ, is primit. akin.
Lattich, m., ‘lettuce,’ from the equiv. ​MidHG. lattech, latech, lateche, OHG. lattuh (latohha), borrowed in the OHG. period from Lat. lactū̆ca through the intermediate forms lattū̆ca, láttuca; comp. AS. leahtric, ‘lactuca’ (comp. Attich from Lat. acte). — In Huflattich, ‘colt’s foot,’ Lattich represents Lat. lapatium (MidHG. huoflęteche, OHG. huoflętihha), or more correctly MidLat. lapatica (intermediate forms lápatica, láptica, lattica).
Latwerge, ‘electuary, confection,’ from the equiv. MidHG. latwërge, laiwêrje, latwârje, f.; the t as in Lattich represents ct (assimilated tt); lactuárium has a in the unaccented first syllable for e, as in Lafritze. This foreign term is based on the equiv. MidLat. electuarium, which sometimes in MidHG. preserves its prim. form, electuârje, lectquerje. The MidLat. word, which originated in Gr. ἐκλεικτόν, ἔκλειγμα, ‘medicine that dissolves in the mouth,’ belongs to the medical art of the Middle Ages, which was learned from the Greeks (comp. also Lafrige, Büchse, Arzt, &c.), and was introduced into G. through a Rom. medium — Ital. lattovaro, Fr. électuaire (whence E. electuary).
Latz, m., ‘stomacher, bodice,’ first occurs in early ModHG. from Rom. (Fr. lacet, m., ‘lace, stay-lace,’ whence E. lace; Ital. laccio, ‘cord’; the prim. word is Lat. laqueus, ‘noose, snare’).
lau, adj., ‘lukewarm, tepid,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lâ (inflected lâwêr), OHG. lâo (inflected; probably for an earlier *hlâo (Goth. *hlêws); comp. OIc. hlýr, ‘warm, mild,’ Du. lauw. In the non-Teut. languages indubitable cognates are wanting, yet the Rom. cognates of flau (Fr. flou) are derived from OG.
Laub, n., ‘foliage,’ from the equiv. MidHG. loup(b), OHG. loub, m. and n.; a primitive and common Teut. term; comp. Goth. laufs (plur. laubôs), m., AS. leáf, n., E. leaf, Du. loof. Some connect the word with Lith. lápas, ‘leaf,’ which, however, compared with the diphthong of the Teut. word has an abnormal a (comp. Haupt with Lat. caput); Gr. λέπος, ‘scale, rind,’ is even less akin.
Laube, f., ‘arbour, bower,’ from MidHG. loube (löube), f., ‘porch, market, court of justice, gallery round the upper storey of a house,’ OHG. louba (louppea), f., ‘penthouse, hall, front building’ (the mutated läube is met with in MidG. dials.; comp. LG. löve). The OIc. lopt, ‘upper storey, balcony’ (whence E. loft), is probably connected with this word. The ModHG. meaning, ‘arbour,’ wanting in MidHG. and OHG., is due to the term being popularly connected with Laub. The OHG. word passed in the form of MidLat. into Rom. (Ital. loggia, Fr. loge, ‘hut, tent, tier of boxes’).
Lauch, m., ‘leek, garlic,’ from. the equiv. MidHG. louch, OHG. louh(hh), m.; comp. the corresponding OIc. laukr, Du. look, AS. leác, E. leek, with which lic in garlic is connected; a primitive and common Teut. word, which was adopted in Finn. as laukka and in OSlov. as lukŭ. Like most of the old names of plants and animals, it is of obscure origin. Gr. λύγος, ‘a pliant rod or twig for wicker-work, willow-like tree,’ cannot be allied on account of its meaning. Perhaps OIr. luss, ‘herb, plant’ (from *luksu-), is a cognate.
Lauer, m., ‘tart wine.’ “It is derived from Lat. lôra, which denotes the tart wine that is made from the skins and stones of grapes by pouring water on them” (Lessing). Even in OHG. lûra, MidHG. lûre, f. (OHG. lûrra, MidHG. liure, from the prim. form *lôrea, appears in the equiv. Suab. leier; to this Swiss glöri from OHG. glûrra is allied?). As to the period of the introduction of Italian vine-culture into Germany, comp. Wein, Winzer, Keller, Kelch, and Most. Lat. lôrea is also indicated by Ital. loja, ‘dirt.’
lauern, vb., ‘to lie in wait,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. lûren, wk. vb.; it corresponds to Scand. lúra, ‘to slumber,’ MidE. lûren, E. to lower, lour. Comp. further MidE. lurken (for lûr ken), E. to lurk, which seems the prim. meaning of the G. and Scand. word. “To the G. term is traced Fr. lorgner, ‘to leer, ogle,’ from which the foreign words Fr. lorgnon, lorgnette, were introduced into G.”
Läufel, Lauft, ‘shell’ (espec. nutshell), a Hess. and Franc. word, corresponding to OHG. louft, ‘nutshell, bark of trees.’ Prim. cognate with Lith. lupinai, ‘peel, skins of fruit’ (lùpti, ‘to skin, peel’), Pol. lupina, ‘husk,’
laufen, vb., ‘to run,’ from the equiv. MidHG. loufen, OHG. louffun, str. vb.; from an earlier hlauffan, equiv. to Goth. hlaupan, ‘to run.’ It corresponds to AS. hleápan, str. vb., ‘to run, leap, dance,’ E. to leap, Du. loopen, OIc. hlaupa; a specifically Teut. word common to all the dialects. For the prim. meaning we have absolutely ​no clue (Gr. κραιπνός, ‘swift,’ is not allied to Goth. hlaupan, which may be preferably compared with Lith. klupti, ‘to stumble’). The Teut. root hlaup has a collateral form hlŭp, by gradation hlŏp (MidHG. and ModHG. dial. geloffen, partic.), of which a variant hlaubt appears in Swiss lôpen, ‘to run’ (comp. hüpfen, Bav. hoppen). ModHG. Lauft, plur. Läufte, m., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. louft, m., ‘course (of time),’ (MidHG. plur. löufte, ‘conjunctures’).
Lauge, f., ‘lye,’ from the equiv. MidHG. louge, OHG. louga, f.; corresponding to MidLG. lôge, Du. loog, AS. leáh, and the equiv. E. lye. In OIc. laug, f., means ‘warm bath’ (preserved in ModIc. in numerous proper names, and signifying ‘hot spring’). Perhaps this Teut. word for ‘warm bath’ is connected with the Aryan root, low, lu, ‘to bathe’ (comp. Lat. lavâre), like the equiv. Swed. lut, of which an extended Aryan luk, equiv. to Teut. luh, ‘to wash,’ may appear in OHG. luhhen, ‘to wash,’ Suab. lichen, North Franc. and Henneberg lüen, ‘to rinse washed linen.’ The HG. word occurs in the Slav. languages as lug, ‘lye.’
läugnen, vb., ‘to contradict, deny,’ from the equiv. MidHG. löugenen, lougenen, lougen, OLG. louginen, lougnen, wk. vb.; corresponding to OSax. lôgnian, AS. lêhnan, lŷgnan, Goth. laugnjan, wk. vb., ‘to deny’; OIc. leyna, ‘to conceal’ (Goth. galaugnjan, ‘to be concealed’), with the loss of a g before the n. A common Teut. wk. vb. with the meaning ‘to deny’; it is a derivative of an OHG. noun lougna, f., ‘denial’ (OIc. laun), which is formed by gradation from the stem of lügen (root lug). Comp. lügen.
Laune, f., ‘humour, freak,’ from MidHG. lûne, f., ‘humour, mood’; the ModHG. word also signifies ‘phase of the moon, quarter of the moon, change of fortune.’ This series of meanings shows that the word is based on Lat. lûna, and that the astrology of the Middle Ages in its attempt to read the fortunes of men by the stars determined the different significations. Ital. luna, Fr. les lunes, E. lunatic, lunacy, lune, all referring to mental states, give evidence of the belief that the moon influenced the moods of men.
Laus, f., ‘louse,’ from the equiv. MidHG., MidLG., and OHG. lûs, f.; corresponding to AS. lûs, E. louse, Scand. lús (plur. lýss), Du. luis, ‘louse.’ The word is common to Teut., occurring evelywhere in the same sense. The usual derivation of Laus from the stem of verlieren, Ver-lus-t, lose, löse (root lus), although supported by the analogy of Gr. φθείρ, ‘louse,’ from φθείρω, is dubious, since MidHG. verliesen (prop. ‘to lose’) does not occur at an early period in the sense of ‘to spoil.’ Neither is the derivation from the Teut. root lū̆t, ‘to hide oneself’ (OHG. lûȥȥên, see lauschen), certain.
lauschen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. (rare) and MidLG. lûschen, wk. vb., ‘to listen, lurk’; the meaning points to the oft-recurring OTeut. stem hlū̆s, ‘to hear,’ so that *hlûskan for *hlûs-skai-, with a derivative sk-, may be assumed. Comp. OHG. hlosên, MidHG. losen, ‘to listen to, hearken,’ OIc. hlus-t, ‘ear.’ Eng. has preserved the cognates in AS. hlyst, f., ‘hearing,’ hlystan, ‘to listen or hearken to,’ E. to list, listen; OHG. lûs-trên, MidHG. lū̆stren, Suab. and Bav. laustern, ‘to hearken,’ MidHG. lusemen, lüsenen, ‘to hearken.’ The OTeut. verbal stem hlus, authenticated by this group, from pre-Teut. klus, has cognate terms in Ind. and Slav.; Ind. crušṭís, f., ‘hearing, obedience’; OSlov. slyšati, ‘to hear,’ sluchŭ, m., ‘hearing,’ Lith. klausà, f., ‘obedience,’ paklùsti, ‘to obey,’ klausýti, ‘to hear.’ To this root klus, ‘to hear,’ a shortened form klu is allied; comp. laut and Leumund. ModHG. lauschen also seems to be connected in a subsidiary manner with MidHG. lôschen, OHG. lôscên, ‘to be hidden, concealed.’ Comp. MidDu. luuschen, ‘to be concealed,’ allied to the equiv. OHG. lûȥȥên (Bav. laußen, ‘to lie in ambush,’ still exists).
laut, adj., ‘loud,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. lût (for an earlier hlût, Goth. *hlûda-); a common Teut. adj. (comp. Du. luid, AS. hlûd, E. loud), which, like falt, alt, tot, gewiß, traut, zart, -haft, kund, satt, wund, was orig. an old partic. in to (Lat. tus, Gr. τος, Ind. tas). The meaning of *klû-dâ-s, pre-Teut. klû-tó-s, from the root klū̆, ‘to hear,’ is lit. ‘audible, heard.’ Another shade of meaning was assumed by the Aryan partic. in the cognate languages — Sans. çrutás, Gr. κλυτός, Lat. inclŭtus, ‘famous.’ In Teut. also there are traces of the short vowel (hlŭda-), especially in proper names, Ludwig, Lothar, Ludolf, Chlothilde, &c. Moreover, the root klū̆ (Gr. κλύω, ‘I hear,’ κλέος, ‘fame’; Ind. çrávas, ‘fame’; OSlov. sluti, ‘to be called,’ slovo for *slevo, ‘word’; Lat. cluo, clueo, ‘to hear oneself ​called’) is also widely diffused in OTeut.; Goth. hliuma, ‘hearing, ear,’ OIc. hljómr, AS. hleóþor, ‘tone, voice, melody. Comp. lauschen and Leumund.
Laut, m., ‘sound,’ from MidHG. lût, m., ‘sound, tone, voice, cry.’ — laut, prep. with gen., is a form of the subst.; lit. ‘according to the sound of, &c.; MidHG. nâch lût, e.g. der briefe, ‘according to the letters,’ nâch lût des artikels, ‘according to the article,’ then also simply lût des artikels. Orig. used only of the contents of documents read out.
Laute, f., ‘lute,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. lûte, f., which is derived from Fr. luth; comp. OFr. leút, Ital. liúto, the origin of which from Arab. al'ûd, ‘musical instrument,’ is accepted; hence the connection between Laute and Laut or Lied must be rejected.
läuten, vb., ‘to ring, chime,’ MidHG. liuten, wk. vb., ‘to utter a sound, cause to resound, ring,’ OHG. lûtten, ‘to make audible.’ Comp. AS. hlŷdan, ‘to be audible, make a loud noise, shout, sound.’
lauter, adj., ‘pure, mere,’ from MidHG. lûter, adj., ‘bright, pure, clear’ OHG. lûttar, hlûttar. Since Goth. and LG. tr is not permutated in HG. (comp. zittern, Winter, Eiter, Otter, and bitter), Goth. hlûtrs, ‘pure,’ AS. hlûttor, ‘pure, clear’ (wanting in E.), and Du. louter are corresponding forms. A prim. Teut. adj. perhaps orig. signifying ‘washed’ (like Lat. lautus, lit. ‘washed,’ then ‘splendid, magnificent’). This prim. meaning may be assumed since the Teut. root hlût, preserved only in the adj. lauter, is cognate with Gr. κλυδ and κλύζω, ‘to rinse out, wash, cleanse,’ and κλύδων, ‘beating of the waves.’
Lavendel, m. and f., ‘lavender,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lavendel, f. and m.; MidLat. lavendula (Ital. lavendola).
lavieren, vb., ‘to veer, tack,’ ModHG. only, from Du. laveeren, whence also Fr. louvoyer.
Lawine, f., ‘avalanche,’ ModHG. simply; from Swiss, in which Lauwin, pronounced with a G. accent, was current at an earlier period. The word passed in the 18th cent. into the written language, orig. with the variants Lauwine, Lauine, Läue, Loewin. Although we might regard the word as a derivative of Lat. labina on account of Föhn, which is undoubtedly of Lat. origin, yet it probably comes from a genuine Teut. source; for the medial Lat. b would be represented only by b or f (v) in G. (MidHG. *lęvene). Moreover, the numerous dial. variants point to a G. root, and, indeed, to kinship with lau; thus with Bav. läuen, läunen, ‘to be softened by a mild temperature, thaw,’ is connected Bav. läuen, läun, ‘thaw, mass of half-melted snow, avalanche,’ and Swiss läue, láui (plur. láuine), ‘avalanche,’ with läu, ‘warm enough to thaw.’ Even in OHG. an allied word lęwina, ‘cascade,’ occurs.
leben, vb., ‘to live,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëben, OHG. lëbên; corresponding to Goth. liban (pret. libaida), AS. libban, E. to live, Du. leven; Scand. lifą, ‘to live,’ and also ‘to be remaining.’ This proves the identity of the stem lib, ‘to live,’ with that of bleiben (Goth. bileiban); hence the connection with Gr. λΓπαραεῖν, ‘to persist', to which λιπαρής, ‘persistent, industrious,’ is allied, probably also Lith. lìpti, ‘to adhere.’ Comp. bleiben and Leib.
Leber, f., ‘liver,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëber, lëbere, OHG. lëbara, f.; the ë of the stem is an old i (comp. beben and leben); corresponds to Du. and MidLG. lever, AS. lifer, E. liver, OIc. lifr, f. Some have attempted to connected with this common Teut. word equiv. terms in the non-Teut. languages — Gr. ἥπαρ, Lat. jecur, Sans. yakṛt, and have assumed two stems, lik and ljē̆k (jêk); in that case the medial labial in Leber would represent an orig. guttural as in vier, fünf, elf, Wolf, &c. Equally uncertain is the explanation from the Gr. λίπα, ‘fat,’ λιπαρός, ‘sticky, greasy’; nor does it seem probable that Gr. λαπάρα, f., ‘loins, flanks,’ is allied, because the OTeut. word has an old i.
Lebkuchen, m., ‘gingerbread,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëbekuocke, m., allied to the equiv. MidHG. lëbezelte. The derivation of lëb-, from Slav. lipa, ‘lime-time,’ Pol. lipiec, ‘finest honey (lime-tree honey),’ is improbable; Lat. lîbum, too, hardly suffices to explain the HG. word. MidHG. lëbe- is more probably a graded form of MidHG. leip (see Laib), ‘bread.’ Or is it connected with ModSlov. lepenj, ‘a sort of cake’?
lechzen, vb., ‘to be parched with thirst,’ from MidHG. lëchzen, lëchezen, prop. ‘to dry,’ then ‘to be parched with thirst’ (comp. Durst). It is connected with the earlier ModHG. adj. lëch, ‘leaky,’ for which the LG. form is used (comp. leck), MidHG. lëchen, ‘to dry up, crack and leak through dryness’; in Goth. probably a str. vb. ​*likan; comp. OIc. leka, ‘to drip, leak’; E. to leak, AS. leccan, ‘to water.’ The Goth. stem is probably lik, by gradation lak (or rather hlak). OIr. legaim, ‘to melt away, dissolve,’ is closely related in sound and meaning. Comp. also the following word.
leck, adj., ‘leaky,’ ModHG. only, a LG. form for an earlier and strictly HG. lech, for, according to the words quoted under lechzen, the Goth. root is lik (hlik?), and this adj. corresponds to the OIc. adj. lekr, ‘leaky,’ whose k would be represented in HG. by ch. The borrowing of the ModHG. word from LG. is explained by the fact that a great number of nautical expressions in ModHG. are of LG. origin; the HG. form lech is also found in the dials. MidHG. lęcken, vb., ‘to moisten’ (lęcke, f., ‘moistening’), has ck for earlier kj, as is shown by AS. lęččean, ‘to moisten’ (from lakjan). Both vbs. prove that ‘to be watery’ is the prim. meaning of the Teut. stem lek (by gradation lak). ModHG. lecken, ‘to leak,’ is no more connected with MidHG. lęcken, ‘to moisten,’ than it is with ModHG. lecken, ‘to lick’; it is a derivative of the adj. leck, and hence has the variant lechen.
lecken (1.), vb., ‘to lick,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëcken, OHG. lëcchôn (for Goth. *likkôn). It corresponds to Du. likken, AS. liccian, E. to lick. The vb. likkôn, ‘to lick,’ common to E. and G., is related to Goth. laigôn, apart from the gradation, as HG. Ziege (Goth. *tigô) is to Zicklein (Goth. *tikkein), or as Hut (Goth. *hôda-) is to AS. hœtt (Goth. *hattu-). Goth. *likkôn, ‘to lick,’ is also authenticated by the equiv. Rom. cognates borrowed from it, Ital. leccare, Fr. lécher. A Teut. root slikk seems to be preserved in ModHG. schlecken, OIc. sleikja, ‘to lick.’ Goth. *laigôn is based on an Aryan root lī̆gh, leigh, loigh; Gr. λείχω, ‘to lick,’ λιχνεύω, ‘to lick, taste by stealth,’ λίχνος, ‘glutton, dainty’; Sans. rih, lih, ‘to lick’; OSlov. ližą (liżati), and Lith. lëżiù (lêżti), ‘to lick’; Lat. lingo, ‘to lick,’ and allied to this perhaps Lat. lingua (Lith. lëżùvis), ‘tongue’; OIr. ligim, ‘to lick.’
lecken (2.), löcken, vb., ‘to kick, hop,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęcken, wk. vb., in Goth. perhaps *lakjan, which may be connected with Gr. λάξ, adv. λάγιδην, ‘with the foot.’ Its kinship with Goth. laikan, ‘to spring, hop,’ is improbable.
Leder, n., ‘leather,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëder, OHG. lëdar, n.; a common Teut. word pointing to Goth. *liþra-, n.; comp. AS. lëþer, E. leather, Du. leder, OIc. leþr, n., ‘leather.’ The pre-Teut. form is létro-m, to which Ir. lethar, W. lledr, ‘leather,’ are traced.
ledig, adj., from the equiv. MidHG. lëdic, lëdec (g), ‘unoccupied, free, untrammelled’; the modern UpG. dials. point to MidHG. lędic. OHG. *lëdag, lędig, as well as Goth. *liþags are wanting; the following, however, are recorded: OIc. liþugr, ‘free, untrammelled,’ MidE. leþi, adj. ‘unoccupied, empty,’ MidDu. lëdech, MidLG. leddich, ledich, ‘at leisure, unemployed.’ The prim. word is MidE. lę̂the, ‘leisure, spare time’ (AS. leoþu?), to which is allied lêthen (leþin), ‘to set free’ (AS. ût-, a-leoþian?), as well as MidDu. onlêde, ‘want of leisure, grief.’ On account of the absence of the word in the OTeut. dials. it is difficult to determine the evolution in meaning. Must we connect it with Goth. unlêds, AS. unlœ̂de, ‘poor, unhappy,’ or with Lat. lîber (for lîthero?), ‘free’?
Lee, n., ‘lee,’ ModHG. only, from LG. lee, ‘place where a calm prevails’; comp. Ic. hlé, E. lee (from AS. hleó, ‘protection’).
leer, adj., from the equiv. MidHG. lœ̂re, OHG. and OSax. lâri, ‘empty, void’; comp. AS. lœre, gelœ̂re, MidE. ilêre, E. dial. leer, ‘empty, with an empty stomach, hungry.’ It can hardly be determined whether the r represents by rhotacism an earlier s. Perhaps Goth. lasiws, ‘powerless, weak,’ AS. lęswe, ‘weak’ (MidHG. erlęswen, ‘to grow weak’), as well as OIc. lasenn, ‘demolished,’ are the nearest cognates of leer.
Lefze, f., ‘lip,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëfs, lëfse, f. and m., OHG. lëfs, m., an UpG. term (in Suab. lengthened to läfzg) for the properly LG. Lippe. Both terms are primit. allied; Lippe may come from Teut. *lipjô, f., and Lefze (with the OHG. variant lëffur, OSax. lëpur), from primit. Teut. lepas, gen. lepazis, or lefs, gen. lefsis (with fs for ps); comp. Goth. ahs, gen. ahsis, ‘ear (of corn ),’ with OHG. ahir, AS. eár (from *eahor), E. ear. For the further cognates comp. under Lippe. Goth. and Scand. have a totally different term for ‘lip’; Goth. waírilô (AS. wëler), OIc. vǫrr, f.
Legel, m., ‘keg, cruse,’ from MidHG. lœ̂gel, lâgel, lœ̂gele, f., ‘small cask,’ OHG. lâgila, lâgella, f., which is derived from MidLat. lagêna, ‘a measure for liquids and for dry goods’ (Lat. lagôna, lagoena, ‘flask,’ ​from Gr. λάγηνος, λάγῦνος ἡ, ‘flagon’); with respect to l for Lat. n in words borrowed from Lat. comp. Kümmel (also Himmel, schlennig). Moreover, the primit. kinship of the HG. cognates with OSlov. lakŭtĭ, Lith. lakas, ‘earthen pitcher,’ is perhaps conceivable.
legen, vb., ‘to lay, put,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. lęgen, lęcken, wk. vb.; prop. ‘to cause to lie,’ hence a factitive of liegen. It corresponds to OSax. lęggian, Du. leggen, AS. lęčgan, E. to lay, OIc. legja, Goth. lagjan, wk. vb., ‘to lay.’ Comp. liegen.
Legende, f., ‘legend,’ from MidHG. legende, f., ‘story of a saint’; from MidLat. legenda, neu. plur. (sic dicta, quia certis diebus legenda in ecclesia et in sacris synaxibus designabatur a moderatore chori).
Lehde, Lede, f., ‘waste land,’ simply ModHG., from earlier Du. leeghde, ModDu. laagte, ‘low ground, valley,’ through a LG. medium. Allied to the ModDu. adj. laag, ‘low,’ to which E. low and the equiv. OIc. lágr correspond; in miners' language the adj. appears also in G.; läg, ‘sloping, awry,’ from MidHG. lœ̂ge, ‘flat, low.’ The whole class belongs to the stem of liegen.
Lehen, n., ‘fief,’ from MidHG. lêhen, n., ‘feudal estate, fief,’ OHG. lêhan, n.; corresponding to OIc. lán, n., ‘loan, fief (whence E. loan), AS. lœ̂n; in Goth. probably *laihwnis, n., to which Sans. reknas, n., ‘estate, wealth,’ prop. ‘inheritance,’ corresponds in construction and derivation. For further cognates comp. leihen.
Lehm, m., ‘loam, clay,’ with a LG. and MidG. form (ê for HG. ei); the strictly HG. form Leimen has a restricted sphere. Comp. MidHG. leim, leime, m., ‘loam,’ from OHG. leimo, m. It corresponds to AS. lâm, E. loam (Goth. *laima). The root lai appears with a derivative s in OIc. leir, n., from *laiz, which may have been contracted from laj-is, like Goth. ais, ‘brass,’ from ájis, Sans. áyas. Allied to Lat. lîmus, m., ‘slime, dirt.’ The form of the gradation between Teut. laima and Lat. lîmus is ai to î. Comp. Leim.
Lehne (1.), f., ‘back or arm (of a chair), balustrade, railing,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëne, line, f., OHG. lina, f., ‘reclinatorium’ for *hlina, which was probably the form in Goth. also. Comp. Gr. κλῖνη, ‘couch, mattress’ (these meanings also belong to Lehne in earlier ModHG.), and for further cognates see lehnen and Leiter.
Lehne (2.), f., from the equiv. MidHG. liene, with the remarkable variant liehe, f., ‘wild sow’; its further connection are difficult to determine; the similarity in sound with the equiv. Fr. laie and MidLat. lêfa (for lêha?) must not be overlooked. It is doubtful whether Lehne is of Teut. origin.
Lehne (3.), f., ‘linch-pin’; comp. Lünse.
Lehne (4.), Lenne, f., ‘Norwegian maple’; MidHG. and OHG. lîn-, lîmboum, hence also earlier ModHG. Leinbaum; the ModHG. form is borrowed from a Northern dial.; Dan. lön, Swed. lönn. Moreover the term was orig. common to Teut.; it was applied to the ‘maple’ in all the older dials. except Goth.; OIc. hlynr, AS. hlyn (hlynn or hlîn?), and with these in the non Teut. languages Slav. klenŭ, and Lith. klévas, ‘maple,’ are primit. allied.
lehnen (1.), vb., ‘to lean, recline’; it combines MidHG. lënen, linen, intr., ‘to rest (on),’ and (through the medium of MidG.) MidHG. leinen, trans., ‘to lean,’ OHG. linên, earlier hlinên, intr., and leinen, hleinen, trans.; corresponds to AS. hlinian, hleonian, intr., and hlœ̂nan, trans., ‘to lean.’ The real stem is hli, the n is a verbal suffix (in Lehne, however, corresponding to Gr. κλί-νη, a nominal suffix). The graded form of hlī̆, hlai, has been preserved in Leiter; it also existed in an OTeut. *hlaiwaz, *hlaiwiz, n., ‘hill’ (Goth. hlaiw, AS. hlœ̂w, OHG. lêo for hlêo), as well as in Goth. hlains, m., ‘hill,’ OIc. hlein, f., ‘projecting rock.’ The root hlī̆, unpermutated klī̆, appears in the non-Teut. languages with numerous cognates; Gr. κλἷ-νω, ‘to lean,’ κλἷ-μαξ f., ‘ladder, stairs’ (comp. Leiter), κλῖ-νη, ‘couch,’ κλι-σία, ‘conch, easy-chair, tent’ (comp. Goth. hlei-þra, f., ‘tent’), κλι-τύς, ‘hill,’ κλῖ-τος, κλίτος, n., ‘hill’ (comp. ModHG. Leite, f., OIc. hlíþ, f., AS. hlĭþ, n., ‘hill’); Lat. clinare, ‘to incline,’ clivus, m., ‘hill,’ with which are allied Lith. szlýti, ‘to incline to one side,’ szlëti, ‘to lean against,’ szlaítas, ‘slope.’ Hence, according to these allied meanings, the idea is ‘to rise gradually, assume a wry form or a slanting position.’
lehnen (2.), vb., ‘to lend,’ from MidHG. lêhenen, OHG. lêhanôn, ‘to bestow as a fief, lend’; comp. Lehen, and further also leihen; allied to AS. lœ̂nan (pret. lœ̂nde), E. to lend.
lehren, vb., ‘to teach,’ from MidHG. and OHG. lêren, ‘to instruct, teach, make one acquainted with,’ sometimes also ‘to ​learn’; corresponding to Du. leeren, AS. lœ̂ran (whence OIc. lœ̂ra is borrowed), Goth. laisjan, ‘to teach.’ A common Teut. vb. with the primit. meaning ‘to cause to know’; laisjan is the factitive of a pret. pres. lais, ‘I know,’ preserved in Goth. only. In G. and E. only a partic. derivative was retained, which was probably represented in Goth. by *lisnan or *liznan; comp. lernen. Allied also to Goth. leis, ‘knowing,’ leisei, ‘knowledge,’ in lubja-leis, -leisei, ‘skilled in poisons, witchcraft.’ We have data for assuming that Goth. lais, ‘I know,’ is based on a prim. meaning ‘I have experienced,’ for the stem lis of lehren and lernen appears also in Gleise and leisten in the old sense of ‘to go,’ with which Lat. lîra, ‘furrow,’ and its derivative delîrare (lit. ‘to slip away from’) are connected, as well as OSlov. lěcha, ‘ridge (of a furrow),’ mentioned under Gleise; comp. leisten. —
Lehre, f., ‘teaching, doctrine,’ from MidHG. lêre, OHG. lêra, f.; comp. AS. lâr, f., whence E. lore. —
gelehrt, gelahrt, part., ‘learned,’ even in MidHG. gelêrt and gelârt, with the ModHG. sense, prop. however, ‘one who is instructed’; comp. MidE. ilœred, Scand. lœ̂rþr (comp. doctus from docere).
-lei, suffix, ModHG. simply; from MidHG. leie, f., ‘manner, method.’ In MidHG. there was no compound corresponding to ModHG. mancherlei, the expression maneger leie being used as a gen., e.g. maneger leie liute, ‘various sorts of people,’ equiv. to ModHG. mancherlei Leute. MidHG. leie, lei, is generally considered to be a Rom. word borrowed from OFr. and Prov. ley, ‘method’ (Span. and Port. laya, ‘manner,’ is said to be of Basque origin).
Lei, Leie, m. and f., ‘rock, stone’ (in proper names like Lorelei), from MidHG. lei, leie, f., ‘rock, stone,’ also ‘paved way, schist,’ corresponding to OSax. leia, f. ‘rock.’ Further cognates, whether in the Teut. or non-Teut. languages, are uncertain (allied perhaps to Gr. λᾶας, ‘stone’?). It has been assumed that Ital. lavagna, ‘slate,’ was borrowed from the G. cognates.
Leib, m., ‘body, waist,’ from MidHG. lîp (b), m., ‘life, body, substance’; the meaning ‘life’ has been preserved in ModHG. only in compounds such as Leibzucht, ‘sustenance,’ Leibrente, ‘life-annuity.’ OHG. lîb, m. and n., ‘life,’ AS. lîf, E. life; Goth. *leif (b) is wanting (‘life’ is rendered by faírhwus); Scand. líf, n., ‘body, life.’ The phonetic kinship with Leben may be represented in Gr. by λίπ, λῖπ; just as Leben, following Gr. λιπαρεῖν, means lit. ‘to persist,’ so too OTeut. lîba- is lit. ‘persistence, continuance’; the meaning ‘body, substance,’ is simply G. Gr. λείπω cannot on account of Lat. linquo be connected with λιπαρέω; it is allied to Teut. leihen, while λιπαρέω with Leib and Leben are based on an Aryan root lī̆p in bleiben.
Leich, m., ‘lay,’ a term borrowed anew from MidHG. leich, m., ‘song consisting of unequal strophes,’ orig. in a general sense ‘instrumental melody’ (whence OFr. lai was borrowed). It corresponds to Goth. laiks, ‘dance,’ from laikan, ‘to dance,’ AS. lâc, n., ‘play, tilting,’ from lâcan, ‘to leap, dance.’ Since ModHG. Leich is only a loanword, no further remarks are necessary concerning the specifically OTeut. root laik and its wide ramifications.
Leiche, f., ‘corpse,’ from MidHG. lîch, lîche, f., ‘body, substance,’ also ‘dead body, corpse’; in ModHG. the specialised meaning, which in the earlier Teut. dials. was subordinate to the more general sense ‘body’ as substance, has now become the prevalent one. OHG. lîh (hh), f. and n., ‘body, flesh,’ AS. lîc, n., ‘body, substance, corpse’ (for E. like comp. gleich); Goth. leik, n., ‘flesh, body, corpse.’ In a possessive compound lîk assumed even in the OTeut. period the definite meaning ‘body,’ but was modified afterwards in numerous dials. to a suffix equiv. to HG. -lich (which see). The signification ‘body’ has been retained in ModHG. Leihdorn, ‘corn,’ lit. ‘thorn in the body’ (Ic. líkþorn). —
Leichnam, m., ‘dead body, corpse,’ from MidHG. lîchname, OHG. lîhhinamo, m., ‘body, substance, corpse’; OHG. lîhhinamo for *lihhin-hamo is based on a wk. form *lîkan-, *lîkin- (comp. Goth. manleika, ‘image’); at all events, OHG. lîhhin-amo is not a corruption of OTeut. lîkhamo, m., ‘body’; OHG. lîhhamo (by syncope lîhmo), MidHG. lîchame, m., AS. lîc-hǫma, OIc. líkamr (líkame), m., ‘body.’ The second component is an obsolete noun (ham, hamo), meaning ‘form, covering’; comp. OIc. hamr, ‘skin, shape,’ AS. homa, ‘covering’; Goth. anahamôn, gahamôn, ‘to put on (clothes), dress’ (comp. Hamen, hämisch, and Hemd). Therefore Leichnam probably signified orig. ‘body,’ lit. ‘covering or form of flesh,’ i.e. ‘body of flesh, in so far as it is endowed with life.’ The compound has a rather poetical air about it, and in fact ​Scand. and AS. poetry coined many similar circumlocutions for ‘body.’ In AS. poetry comp. flœ̂sc-homa, ‘flesh-covering,’ also bân-fœt, lit. ‘bone-vessel,’ bânhûs, lit. ‘bone-house,’ bânloca, lit. ‘bone-cage,’ bâncofa, lit. ‘bone-dwelling,’ as synonyms of AS. lîc-homa, ‘body.’ Hence it is quite possible that OTeut. lîk-hamo was adopted from poetry in ordinary prose.
leicht, adj., ‘light’ from the equiv. MidHG. lîht, lîhte, OHG. lîhti; corresponding to Du. ligt, AS. lîht, leóht, E. light, OIc. léttr, Goth. leihts, ‘light.’ The further cognates of the word are uncertain, since there are too many adjs. in the allied languages closely resembling leicht both in sense and sound. Some etymologists derive Lat. lĕvis, ‘light,’ from lêvis, lenhvis, in order to connect it with the common Teut. adj. as well as with Gr. ἐλαχύς, ‘petty, small,’ Lith. lengwùs, lèngwas, ‘light’; in that case lîht would represent linht, lenht. If leicht be connected with ModHG. gelingen, it might be compared with Gr. ᾿ἐλαφρὸς, ‘light, nimble’ (see lungern). No explanation has been hitherto quite satisfactory, since in the non-Teut. languages there is no adj. corresponding in form to G. leicht. — In E. lights (see Lunge) is also connected with the adj. light.
Leid, n., ‘harm, hurt, sorrow,’ from MidHG. leit (d), n., ‘affliction, pain, evil’ (as adj. ‘afflicting’), OHG. leid, n., ‘that which causes affliction; harm, pain’ (leid, adj., ‘afflicting, repugnant, hateful’). Comp. AS. lâþ, ‘offence, wrong, hostile, hateful, inimical’; E. loath, adj., to loathe, OIc. leiþr, ‘hostile, hateful.’ Probably the abstr. subst. is orig. nothing more than the neut. of the adj., which passed into Rom. at a very early period (comp. Ital. laido, ‘ugly,’ Fr. laid). See further under leiden and leider.
leiden, vb., ‘to suffer, endure, bear,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lîden, OHG. lîdan, str. vb. It is ordinarily identified with an OTeut. str. vb. lîþan, ‘to go’ (comp. leiten); comp. OHG. lîdan, ‘to go, proceed,’ AS. lîþan, Goth. leiþan, ‘to go.’ It is assumed that lîþan, from the meaning ‘travelling to a foreign land (alilandi, whence ModHG. elend) and across the sea’ (lîþan is frequently used of a voyage), has acquired the sense of ‘indisposition, enduring, and suffering.’ This explanation is too artificial, and when it is urged in its favour that the latter meaning does not occur in Goth., OSax., and AS., the fact is overlooked that it is assumed as primit. by the common Teut. adj. laiþa-, ‘painful, repugnant, hostile,’ which is wanting only in Goth. (comp. Leid). It might be conceivable if a compound of liþan, ‘to go,’ formed by prefixing a verbal particle, had assumed within the historic period the meaning ‘to suffer,’ but that the simple verb evolved such a sense immediately from ‘to go’ in primit. Teut. times is scarcely credible. The proof of this lies in the fact that the derivative laiþa-, from the stem of lîþan, is more widely diffused, and is recorded at an earlier period. Thus we are led to the orig. meaning ‘to put up with what is repugnant,’ and the early existence of the adj. and subst. discussed under Leid causes no surprise. For the further history of the word the OHG. interject. lêwes, lês, ‘oh! alas!’ appears to be valuable; in form it is the gen. of a noun, and presumes Goth. laiwis, from a stem lai-wa-. Since it is used in a way similar to HG. leider, they are probably cognate. Thus the root would be lai, by gradation lî; the dental of lîdan, leiden, was probably therefore a part of the present stem originally. See the following word.
leider, interj., ‘alas!’ from the equiv. MidHG. leider, OHG. leidôr; prop. a comparat. of the OTeut. adj. mentioned under Leid. With regard to the possibility of its being allied to OHG. lêwes, lês, ‘alas!’ comp. leiden.
Leier, f., ‘lyre,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lîre, OHG. lîra, f.; from Lat. and Gr. lyra, with the Byzantine pronunciation of the y current in the Middle Ages, but with an abnormal change of quantity (as in Kreuz, Schule, and Lilie). The lyre of the Middle Ages, except when imported, was essentially different from the antique lyre; it was an instrument of the same sort as a guitar, and was played by a wheel turned by a winch; hence it was something very like a barrel-organ (hurdy-gurdy). Through the influence of classical studies, the term Leier is now applied again to the antique instrument without entirely supplanting the earlier meaning (comp. Leierkasten). Comp. also Ital. lira, Fr. lyre, E. lyre, and Du. lier.
leihen, vb., ‘to lend, borrow,’ from MidHG. lîhen, OHG. lîhan, str. vb., ‘to take on credit,’ rarely ‘to give on credit’; so too Goth. leihwan, AS. león (contracted from ​lîhan), of which only the allied forms loan and to lend have been preserved in E. (comp. Lehen and lehnen). These derivatives, which appear in several dialects, are based on the common Teut. meaning ‘to lend.’ The correspondences in the cognate languages prove that this is only a specialisation of a general sense, ‘to leave,’ The Aryan root lik occurs with the meanings ‘to leave behind, forsake, set free, relinquish’; Sans. ric (for lik), pres. rinácmi, ‘to abandon a thing, give up, set free, empty, clear, give way for a certain sum’; to this are allied rikthám, n., ‘bequest, inheritance,’ reknas, n., ‘property left behind, wealth’ (see Lehen), riktás, adj., and rêku-s, adj., ‘empty’; also Lat. linquo, relinquo, reliquus; Gr. λείπω, with very numerous meanings, ‘to forsake, leave over or behind, omit’; λοιπός, adj., ‘remaining’; OIc. léicim (prim. form leiqó), ‘I leave, relinquish’; Lith. lëku, likti, ‘to leave behind,’ pálaikas, ‘remnant,’ OSlov. otŭ-lěkŭ, ‘remnant, relic.’
Leilachen, Leilach, n., ‘sheet,’ from MidHG. lîlachen, lîlach, n., ‘bed-linen, sheet.’ The ModHG. and MidHG. word originated in lîn-lacken, which form is often recorded in MidHG. (Leinlachen in earlier ModHG.), and appears in OHG. as lîn-lahhan; lînl- was assimilated in MidHG. to lîll- and ll simplified after a long vowel. A similar course was followed by the OIc. cognate lé-rept for *línrept, *línript, ‘linen.’ The derivation of Leilachen from MidHG. lîhlachen, OHG. lîh-lahhan, ‘body-linen’ (comp. Leiche, for OHG. lîh), is less probable, because an assimilation of chl to ll, l, is scarcely credible.
Leim, m., ‘glue, birdlime,’ from the equiv. MidHG., MidLG., and OHG. lîm, m.; corresponding to Du. lijm, AS. lîm, E. lime; Scand. lím, n., ‘glue, lime’; Goth. *leima is wanting. The common Teut. lîma- is related by gradation to the common Teut. laima-, mentioned under Lehm; the prim. meaning, ‘earthy, adhesive substance,’ is deduced from the E. and Scand. signification ‘glue, lime.’ Lat. lîmus, ‘slime,’ is more closely connected with HG. Lehm in meaning, but with HG. Leim in its graded form î. The root lai, by gradation lî, is authenticated by OIc. leir, n. (see Lehm), and Lat. li-no, ‘to rub over.’ Its relation to Gr. λειμών, ‘mars,’ and γλοιός, ‘sticky, clammy stuff,’ is less certain.
Lein, m., ‘flax,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. lîn, m. and n.; comp. Leinen.
Leine, f., ‘line,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. lîne, f., late OHG. lîna, f., ‘rope, cable, line,’ espec. ‘towline.’ The derivation from Lat. lînea is doubtful, because the latter does not signify ‘cable’ even in MidLat. but specially ‘plumb-line,’ and in MidLat. ‘measure of length.’ As far as the sense is concerned, the word is more closely connected with Lat. lînum, ‘thread, cable, rope’; hence OHG. lîna is the plur. of the Lat. word. In Rom. and MidLat., however, lînum does not occur in this sense. Perhaps Leine, as an independent Teut. derivative of lîn, ‘linen,’ corresponds to Gr. λιναία, λινέα, ‘rope, cord’?. In that case AS. lîne, E. line, and OIc. lína (Goth. *leinjô, lit. ‘what is prepared from flax’), are also formed according to the genuinely Teut. principle (suffix, jôn).
Leinen, n., ‘linen,’ prop. a neut. adj. used as a subst., MidHG. lînen, lînîn, ‘(of) linen.’ It is based on MidHG. lîn, m., ‘flax, linen, linen garment,’ OHG. and OSax. lîn, n., Goth. lein, n., ‘linen.’ In this case, as in that of Hanf, it is doubtful whether the term (common Teut. lîna-) is cognate with or borrowed from the similarly sounding words in Lat. and Gr. If the Teut. word is really borrowed, the relation of the consonants proves that Hanf was known to the Teutons previous to the permutation of consonants, i.e., long before our era; the same may be said of lîna-, ‘flax,’ since Pliny and Tacitus testify that linen was used among the Teutons when they wrote. Perhaps we may regard Scythian as the source of the cognates, as is indicated by the absence of the word among the Eastern Aryans. Comp. Lat. lînum, Gr. λίνο-ν, OSlov. lĭnŭ, Lith. linaì, ‘flax’; λῖ- was retained in the dat. λῖ-τί, plur. λῖ-τα, hence the root of lînum, λίνον, is lī̆- and no, the suffix. Comp. Leilachen and Leine. —
Leinwand, f., is a ModHG. corruption of MidHG. lînwât, f., ‘linen,’ connecting it with HG. Gewand. The old wât (OHG. and MidHG.) has become obsolete in ModHG.; like AS. wœ̂d, ‘garment,’ it is allied to a lost Aryan root, wê, ‘to weave.’
Leis, m., ‘canticle,’ borrowed from MidHG. and early ModHG. leis, leise, m., ‘spiritual song,’ shortened from kĭrléise. Kyrie eleison was the refrain of hymns.
leise, adj., ‘low, soft, gentle,’ from Mid ​HG. lîse, OHG. *lîsi (adv. lîso), ‘low,’ also ‘slow.’ Under lehren, List, and lernen, a Teut. root, orig. meaning ‘to go,’ is discussed, with which Goth. leis, ‘familiar,’ seems to be connected. The HG. word can, however, scarcely be directly allied to this adj., since the difference in meaning is too great. It is also questionable whether leise belongs at all to the root lis. Perhaps it is connected with Gr. λεῖος, λιαρός, ‘soft, gentle, mild’; both, however, are better referred to Lat. lêvis, ‘smooth.’ The nasal in Suab. lins (lœñs), ‘low,’ presents a difficulty.
Leiste (1.), f., ‘list, border, selvage,’ from MidHG. lîste, OHG. lîsta, f., ‘long strip, edge, lace, list’; comp. AS. lîst, f., E. list; Ic. lísta (lĭsta?), f., ‘border, strip’; in the non-Teut. languages there are no cognates. Note, however, the words borrowed in Rom. Ital. lista, Fr. liste, ‘strip, lace.’
Leiste (2.), f., ‘groin,’ ModHG. only, probably not connected with the preceding word, but with Goth. *laistô, f. The latter is indicated also by E. last (dial.), ‘groin.’ The equiv. AS. leósca, MidE. lêske, ModDu. liesche, OSwed. liuske, Dan. lŷske, diverge too widely in sound from the HG. form; the attempt to connect it with MidLat. laisius, ‘lap’ (Lex Salica), is also dubious.
Leisten, Leiste, m., from the equiv. MidHG. leist, m., ‘last’; OHG. leist (n.?), ‘forma.’ Corresponding to AS. lâst, lœ̂st, m., ‘footprint, track, forma,’ E. last, Goth. laists, m., ‘track, goal,’ with the facts mentioned under leisten, indicate that ‘footprint’ is the orig. meaning of the HG. and E. words; this is probably an important fact in the history of the word. It is true that OIc. leistr, m., signifies ‘foot,’ and ‘short stocking, sock.’
leisten, vb., ‘to perform, accomplish,’ from MidHG. and OHG. leisten, ‘to adhere to and execute an order, fulfil one's promise or duty’; corresponds to Goth. laistjan, ‘to pursue, yield.’ On account of its kinship with Gleise and Leisten, m., the meaning of the HG. word (as well as the equiv. OSax. lêstan) must be based on the Goth. vb. AS. lœ̂stan, ‘to perform, accomplish, hold, sustain, endure,’ whence E. to last. The common Teut. wk. vb. laistjan, lit. ‘to pursue’ (whence Span. and Port. lastar, ‘to pay on behalf of another,’ was borrowed), is derived from Goth. laists, m., AS. lâst, m., ‘footprint’ (see under Leisten), which are again derived from a root lis, ‘to go.’ This root has a constant tendency to pass from the sensuous meaning ‘to go, follow,’ into an intellectual notion (see Lehre, lernen, and List); comp. also leise.
Leite, f., from the equiv. MidHG. lîte, f., ‘mountain, slope, declivity,’ OHG. lîta, from an earlier *hlîta, f. (Goth. *hleida, f.). The Teut. root hlî is discussed more fully under lehnen, where also the allied terms signifying ‘hill’ may be compared.
leiten, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. ‘to lead, guide’; corresponding to OSax. lêdan, Du. leiden, AS. lœ̂dan, E. to lead, OIc. leiða. All point to a non-recorded Goth. *laidjan, which (as factitive of the OTeut. lîþan, ‘to go,’ discussed under leiden) signifies lit. ‘to cause to go’; comp. senden, which also had orig. this same meaning. With the factitive *laidjan is connected a Teut. laidô-, f., ‘leading,’ whence AS. lâd, ‘road, journey,’ in E. current only in loadstar, loadstone, and loadsman (AS. lâdmann), equiv. to ModHG. Lotse. ModHG. Leitstern, MidHG. leitstërne, m., ‘the polar star that guides the mariners, loadstar.’
Leiter, f., from the equiv. MidHG. leiter, leitere, OHG. leitara (earlier *hleitir), f., ‘ladder.’ It corresponds to Du. ladder, leer, AS. hlœ̂dder, hlœ̂der, f., E. ladder; the Goth. term *hlai-dri (gen. -drjôs), f., ‘ladder,’ with a fem. suffix identical with Gr. -τρια, is wanting; *hlaí-dri is based on the hlī̆ (pre-Teut. klī̆) discussed under lehnen, and in Gr. κλῖ-μαξ this root has a meaning corresponding to that of the West Teut. word; Leiter is as it were ‘that which slants or leans.’ Scand. hleiðr, ‘tent,’ may be connected with the equiv. Goth. hleiþra, f., and Gr. κλισία. Comp. Lehne, lehnen, and Leite.
Lende, f., ‘loins,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęnde, OHG. lęntin, f.; corresponding to Du. lende, AS. lęnden, f. (in the plur. lęndenu, m.); OIc. lend, Dan. lynd, ‘loins’ (allied to Ic. lundir, ‘sirloin, saddle of mutton’?); in Goth. perhaps *landini, f. In case the b of Lat. lumbus, ‘loins,’ represented Aryan dh, or rather dhw (for Lat. barba, representing bhardhâ, see Bart, and Lat. ruber, representing Aryan rudhros, ἐρυθρός, see rot), HG. Lende might be compared with it. The prim. form lndhwî- is also indicated by OSlov. lędvija, f., ‘loins, kidney.’
lenken, vb., ‘to guide, direct,’ from MidHG. lęnken, ‘to bend, turn, direct’; a denominative of MidHG. lanke, OHG. ​lanca, hlanca, ‘hip, loins.’ For further details see under Flanke and Gelenk; it is also perhaps allied to link, lit. ‘oblique’; hence lenken orig. means ‘to direct obliquely or sideways’ (comp. link). It is also thought to be connected with Lith. lènkti, ‘to bend.’
Lenz, m. (Bav. längess, längsing, Swiss langsi), from the equiv. MidHG. lęnze, m. and f., ‘spring’ (from the variants langeȥ, langeȥe); OHG. lęnzo, lęnzī̆n, langiȥ, m.; the loss of the g is normal, as in Bliß and Runzel. Comp. Du. lente, AS. lęncten, m., ‘spring,’ E. Lent. This West Teut. word was probably the term for spring, and Tacitus in the Germania seems to have a dim idea that it was used by the Teutons (OIc. vár, MidE. and Scotch wêr, North Fris. ûrs, wos, represent the North Teut. term primit. allied to Lat. vêr, Gr. ἔαρ, Sans. vasar); for the other observations of Tacitus on the OTeut. divisions of time, comp. Herbst (also Frühling, which has supplanted the old word Lenz in most of the modern dials. of Upper Germany; see an old Aryan term for Lenz under Jahr). The word is peculiar to Teut.; it has not been authenticated in the non-Teut. languages; its prim. meaning is therefore dubious. Some etymologists, misled simply by the similarity of sound, have connected Lenz with lang (Goth. laggs), and opined that it was so named from the lengthening of the days; such a derivation is at all events uncertain.
Lerche, f., ‘lark,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lē̆rche, from lêreche, lêwreche, OHG. lêrahha, f.; it is shown by the equiv. Du. leeuwerik, AS. lâwrice, lœ̂werce, lâwerce, E. lark, Scotch laverock, OSwed. lœrikia, as well as the MidHG. variants lêwerich, lêwerech, lêwerch, that a fuller form would have been *lêwarahha in OHG. The Goth. form cannot be determined with any certainty, nor can we say definitely whether the OHG. and AS. words are compounds or simply unusual derivatives,
lernen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. lërnen, ‘to learn’ (more rarely ‘to teach’), OHG. lirnên, lërnên, ‘to learn’; comp. AS. leornian, E. to learn, OSax. lînon for Goth. *liznan (pret. *liznôda); an OTeut. derivative of the partic. of the Goth. str. vb. lais, ‘I know,’ discussed under Lehre and lehren; hence lernen means ‘to become experienced, informed.’ The cognates of the stem lis fall into two classes; to one belongs the sensuous notion ‘to go’ (comp. Leisten, Leiste, Gleise, and leise), the other comprises the words Lehre, lehren, and Goth. leis, ‘knowing.’
lesen, vb., ‘to gather, glean, read,’ from MidHG. lësen, OHG. lësan, ‘to pick out, pick up, read,’ also ‘to narrate, relate.’ Goth. lisan, galisan, and AS. lesan, simply mean ‘to gather, collect’; from the latter E. to lease is derived. So too in earlier OIc. lesa merely signifies ‘to collect, glean.’ There can be no doubt that this was the prim. meaning of HG. lesen; hence it is probable that the common Teut. lesan, ‘to gather up,’ is connected with Lith. lesù (lèsti), ‘to peck, pick up grains of corn.’ There is no relation between Goth. lisan, ‘to gather,’ and lais, ‘I know,’ laisjan, ‘to teach’ (see lehren, and lernen). The development of the meaning ‘to read’ from ‘to gather’ is indeed analogous to that of Lat. lego and Gr. λέγω, which the HG. significations combine. Yet the state of OTeut. culture affords a finer and wider explanation of lesen, ‘legere’; since the modern term Buchstabe, ‘letter,’ is inherited from OTeut. times, when runic signs were scratched on separate twigs, the gathering of these twigs, which were strewn for purposes of divination, was equiv. to ‘reading (lesen) the runes.’ Hence OTeut. lesan expressed the action described by Tacitus (Germ. 10) as “surculos ter singulos tollit;” in pre-hist. G. it also signified “sublatos secundum impressam ante notam interpretatur.” It is worthy of remark too that the OTeut. dials. have no common term for ‘to read,’ and this proves that the art was not learnt until the Teutons had separated into the different tribes. It is also certain that runic writing was of foreign, probably of Italian origin. The Goth used the expressions siggwan, ussiggwan, ‘to read,’ the Englishman AS. rœ̂dan, E. to read; the former probably signified orig. ‘loud delivery,’ the latter ‘to guess the runic characters.’
Letten, m. ‘(potter's) clay,’ from MidHG. lëtte, OHG. lëtto, m., ‘loam’ (ë is due to the Bav. and Alem. dials.); to this is probably allied the Ic. graded form leþja, ., ‘loam, dirt.’ It is connected by some etymologists with Lat. lŭtum, n., ‘mud, dirt,’ and by others, less probably, with OPruss. laydis, ‘loam,’ whose diphthong, compared with the a of the Teut. word, presents a difficulty.
​ letzen, vb., ‘to injure,’ from lętzen, OHG. lęzzen, ‘to check, stop, hinder, damage, hurt’; corresponding to Goth. latjan, galatjan, ‘to stop, check,’ AS. lęttan, E. to let; a common Teut. denominative from the adj. lata-; comp. laß and lassen.
sich letzen, ‘to indulge oneself, from MidHG. lętzen, ‘to liberate, do one a kindness, take one's leave, regale oneself.’ See also the following word.
letzt, super. adj., ‘last,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęst, lęȥȥist, super. of laȥ, adj., ‘faint’; the ModHG. form seems to be due to LG., which must have produced (lętist and lęzt (for lętst). These forms actually occur in the Heliand. In OHG. lęȥȥist, laȥȥôst, AS. lœtma and lœtmest (pointing to a Goth. *latuma, ‘latest’); also AS. latost, E. last. The posit. of these OTeut. superlats. is the OTeut. adject. stem lata- (see laß), lit. ‘lazy, inactive, dilatory’; letzter orig. means ‘most dilatory, latest’ (comp. AS. and E. late). In the phrase zu guter Leztz, ‘for the last time, finally,’ the noun is a corruption of Letz, which is connected with MidHG. lętzen, ‘to end, take one's leave, take refreshment,’ mentioned under letzen, hence the expression meant orig. ‘as a choice farewell-banquet.’
Leuchse, f., ‘rail-tie,’ a Bav. and Suab. word, from the equiv. MidHG. liuhse; probably cognate with the equiv. Czech lušnĕ, Pol. lusnia, Russ. ljušnja, if these are not connected rather with Lünse.
Leuchte, f., ‘light, lamp,’ from MidHG. liuhte, f., ‘light, apparatus for giving light,’ also ‘brightness, lustre’; a derivative of Licht.
leuchten, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. liuhten, ‘to shine, give light,’ corresponding to Goth. liuhtjan, ‘to shine, give light’; an OTeut. denominative from the adj. liuhta-, ‘light’; leuchten meant lit. ‘to be light, bright.’ Comp. licht.
Leumund, m., ‘reputation, character,’ from MidHG. and OHG. liumunt, m., ‘reputation, fame, report.’ In ModHG. it is perhaps instinctively interpreted as Leute Mund, ‘mouth of the people’; but the word is not a compound. In Goth. probably *hliumunds, m., which must be referred to hliuma, ‘hearing, ear’; -munda- is perhaps an affix corresponding to Gr. -ματ- and Lat. -mento- (in co-gnô-mentum). The root hliu- has numerous derivatives, both in the Teut. and non-Teut. languages (comp. laut, läuten, Gr. κλέος, Sans. çrávas, ‘fame’); Sans. çrômata-m., n., ‘hearing,’ corresponds most nearly in form to HG. Leumund. Lat. crîmen has absolutely nothing to do with these last two terms. Verleumden, ‘to calumniate,’ is not based directly on Leumund, but on a MidHG. liumde, normally abbreviated from it.
Leute, plur only, ‘people,’ from MidHG. liute, m. and n. plur., ‘people, persons,’ with the sing. liut, m. and n., ‘nation’; OHG. liuti, m. and n. plur., ‘people,’ also liut, m. and n., ‘nation’; corresponding to AS. leóde, plur., ‘people’. It is uncertain whether we have to assume *liudus, ‘nation,’ in Goth. The word is common to Teut. and Slav.; OSlov. ljudŭ, m., ‘nation,’ plur.,’ ljudije, ‘people,’ Lett. laudis, m. plur., ‘people, nation.’ They are connected with an Aryan root ludh, ‘to grow,’ which retained its meaning in Goth. liudan, OSax. liodan, AS. leódan, OHG. liotan; comp. the Sans. root ruh, ‘to grow.’ The following Teut. words are also connected with the same stem, Goth. lauþs (gen. laudis) in swalauþs, ‘so great,’ samalauþs, ‘equally great, equal,’ juggalauþs, ‘youth,’ MidHG. lôte, ‘constituted’; Goth. ludjô-, f., ‘face’; AS. leód, m., ‘king.’
-lich, adj. suffix, from MidHG. -lī̆ch, -lîch (the short vowel on account of its position in an unaccented syllable), OHG. -lîch; corresponding to Goth. -leiks, AS. -lîc, E. -ly. Orig. identical with the OTeut. lîka-, ‘body,’ discussed under Leichnam and gleich; Goth. waíraleiks, ‘male,’ lit. ‘having a male body.’ In this manner -lîka is used in all the dials. as an adj. suffix. In some pronominal forms (solcher and welcher) the old -lîk represents a suffix corresponding to Gr. -λίκος in τηλίκος, πηλίκος. See gleich and männiglich.
licht, adj., ‘light, luminous,’ from MidHG. lieht, OHG. lioht, adj., ‘bright, radiant, shining’; corresponding to AS. leóht, E. light, adj.; Goth. *liuhts, ‘bright,’ may be inferred from its derivative liuhtan, ‘to give light’ (see leuchten). It is questionable whether the dental licht is of particip. origin. as in alt, falt, laut, &c.
Licht, n., ‘light, luminary, candle,’ from MidHG. licht, OHG. lioht, n., ‘light, lustre, brightness’; corresponding to OSax. lioht, Du. licht, AS. leóht, n., E. light. The dental of the word is a suffix, as is shown by Goth. liuh-aþ (gen. -adis), n., ‘light, sheen.’ OIc. ljós, n., ‘light,’ formed with a different suffix would be in Goth. *liuhs (gen. -sis); they are based on Aryan leukot-, leukt-, and ​leukos-, leuks-, as a double stem; comp. Sans. rocis, n., Zend raocaṇh (for *rocâs, ‘lustre, light.’ The Aryan root luk, by gradation leuk, has numerous derivatives, Sans. ruc (rôcâmi), ‘to give light,’ rukmá-s, adj., ‘glittering,’ subst. ‘jewels,’ rôká-s, m., rôcaná, n., ‘light’; Gr. λευκός, adj. ‘white,’ ἀμφιλύκη, ‘morning twilight’; Lat. lucerna, lûceo, lux, lucidus, lûna, lûmen, diluculum; OIr. lóche (t), ‘lightning,’ lón, ‘lustre’; OSlov. luča, ‘ray,’ luna, f., ‘moon.’ In Teut. there are also other derivatives of the Aryan root luk; comp. Leuchte, licht, adj., Lohe and Luchs, as well as Goth. lauhmuni, f., ‘lightning,’ lauhatjan, ‘to give light’; OIc. ljóme, AS. leóma, OSax. liomo, m. ‘lustre’; AS. lêgetu, MidE. leit, ‘lightning,’ and OHG. lôhazzen, ‘to lighten’; comp. also Luchs. With Sans. rukšá, Zend raokšna, adj., ‘bright,’ Pruss. lauksnos, f., plur., ‘stars,’ and OIc. ljós, ‘light,’ are also connected OHG. liehsen, adj., ‘bright,’ and AS. lîxan, ‘to give light.’
lichten, vb., ‘to lighten, weigh (anchor),’ ModHG. only; MidHG. lüften, ‘to raise aloft, lift up, air,’ as well as E. to lift, are unconnected with this word. Lichten, as a nautical term, is borrowed from LG. lichten, lit. ‘to make light,’ then ‘to lift up.’
Lid, in Augenlid, n., from MidHG., lit(t), n., ‘lid’ (espec. of a vessel), OHG. lit, earlier hlit, n.; corresponding to AS. hlid, n., ‘lid, door,’ E. lid; OIc. hliþ, n., ‘gate.’ ‘Eyelid’ in Ic. is augnalok, n., lit. ‘eye-lock’; in MidE. also eielid, E. eyelid (MidHG. ougelit), and hence the term, like Augapfel, is common both to G. and E. hlid, ‘lock-up, lid,’ is connected with an old verbal stem, OSax. and AS. hlîdan, ‘to cover, lock up.’
lieb, adj., ‘dear, esteemed,’ from the equiv. MidHG. liep (inflected lieber), OHG. liob (inflected liobêr). It corresponds to Goth. liufs (b), AS. leóf, E. lief, adj., Du. lief, OIc. ljúfr; a common Teut. adj. with the general meaning ‘dear’; it is regularly derived from pre-Teut. *léubho-, which is accurately represented by OSlov. ljubŭ (Aryan root leubh, by gradation lubh). An OAryan adj. for ‘dear’ (Sans. priyá-s) was changed in meaning at an early period in Teut. (see frei) and supplanted by lieb; ModHG. and MidHG. lieben, OHG. liubôn, ‘to love’; to this is allied AS. lufian, E. to love, with a weaker vowel stage of the root (AS. lufu, equiv. to E. love). Since HG. Lob, geloben, erlauben, glauben belong to the same Teut. root lub, by gradation leub (pre-Teut. lubh, leubh), we must assign to the latter a wider meaning, something like ‘pleasure’ and ‘approbation’; Sans. lubh, ‘to demand violently,’ Lat. lŭbens, libens, ‘with pleasure, willingly,’ lŭbet, ‘it pleases, is agreeable,’ lŭbîdo, libîdo, ‘pleasure, longing, desire.’ With these perhaps the common Teut. word lustus, equiv. to Lust, is also connected.
Liebstöckel, n. and m., ‘lovage,’ even in MidHG. liebstuckel, usually, however, lübestecke, m., which is based on Lat. ligusticum (whence the equiv. Ital. levistico, Fr. livèche). The unintelligible Lat. form was corrupted in the Middle Ages in the most varied ways; AS. lufestice is also based on AS. lufu, love’ OHG. lubistëchal, MidHG. lübestecke seem to be formed in allusion to OHG. luppi, MidHG. lüppe, ‘juice of a plant producing strong effects’ (see Lab).
Lied, n., from the equiv. MidHG. liet(d), OHG. liod, n., ‘song’ (Goth. *liuþ, n., may be inferred from liuþareis, m., ‘singer,’ and liuþân, ‘to sing praises’); comp. Du. lied, AS. leóþ, n., ‘song.’ The Teut. term for poetical productions, such as existed far earlier than the time of Tacitus (comp. “carmina antiqua,” Germania, 2). Poetry flourished long before the adoption of the letters of the runic alphabet, which was derived from the Lat.
liederlich, adj., ‘dissolute,’ from MidHG. liederlich, adj., ‘light, pretty, trifling, frivolous’ (not recorded in OHG.). AS. lŷþre, adj., ‘miserable, bad,’ points to *liuþrs. To this is doubtlessly allied lotter- in compounds pointing to a Goth. *ludrs. Probably Gr. ἐλεύθερος, ‘free,’ like the Teut. words, may be traced to a root leuth. Lüderlich for liederlich is a recent form of the adj. connecting it with Luder (MidHG. luoder).
liefern, vb., ‘to deliver, furnish, supply,’ first occurs in early ModHG., formed from MidLat. liberare, ‘dare, praebere’ (Fr. livrer).
liegen, vb., ‘to lie, be situated,’ from the equiv. MidHG. ligen, licken, OHG. licken, ligen, str. vb.; corresponding to Du. liggen, AS. ličǧan, E. to lie (ligjan, lag, legans, was the orig. gradation, but Goth. ligan in the pres.); the common Teut. vb. for liegen, which has numerous cognates in Aryan (root legh). Comp. Gr. λέκτρον, λέχος, n., ‘bed,’ ἄλοχος, ‘bed-fellow, wife,’ also λεχώ, ‘woman in childbed,’ λοχέω, ‘to give birth to’; λόχος, ‘lying in wait, ​bush,’ also ‘lying-in, childbirth, In Gr. epic poets aorist forms of a verb formed from a root legh, λεχ, have been preserved, λέκτο, λέξατο, &c., with the meaning ‘to lie down, encamp.’ The vb. is also wanting in Lat., where, however, lectus, ‘bed,’ a derivative of the root legh, is retained. OSlov. lęgą (lešti), ‘to lie down,’ lezą (ležati), ‘to lie.’ In East Aryan the root is unknown. Comp. legen, Lager, and löschen.
Lilie, f., ‘lily,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lilje, OHG. lilja, f.; borrowed in OHG. from Lat. lîlia, plur.; the brevity of the i of the accented syllable in the G. word and also in E. (AS. lilie, E. lily) is the same as in Linie and Litze, from Lat. lînea and lîcium. Comp. Rose.
lind, gelinde, adj., ‘gentle,’ from MidHG. linde, OHG. lindi, adj., ‘soft, gentle, tender, mild’ (Goth. *linþs is wanting); corresponding to OSax. lîthi, AS. lîþe, ‘mild, friendly, soft,’ E. lithe. In Scand. an exact correspondence is not found; the term used is linr, ‘friendly, mild, soft’ (whence Lapp. lines is borrowed), which with Bav. len, ‘soft,’ Du. lenig, ‘pliant,’ points to the fact that the dental of the G. and E. words is a suffix. Hence lin- is the root from which are formed in OTeut. Goth. af-linnan, ‘to go away, yield,’ OIc. linna, ‘to cease,’ AS. linnan, ‘to cease, part from, lose,’ OHG. bilinnan, ‘to relax, leave off.’ Therefore the Teut. root meant orig. ‘yielding disposition.’ Comp. OSlov. lěnŭ, ‘lazy,’ Lat. lên-i-s, ‘gentle, mild,’ and lentus, ‘flexible, pliant.’
Linde, f., ‘linden, lime-tree,’ from the equiv. MidHG. linde, OHG. linta, f.; corresponding to Du. linde, AS. lind, f. E. lind, linden, linden-tree (E. lime-tree = ‘linden’ is obscure); OIc. lind, f., ‘lime-tree’; a common Teut. term for ‘linden,’ also, as an OTeut. warlike term, ‘shield,’ lit. ‘linden shield,’ Its earlier history is obscure; ModHG. dial. Lind, ‘bast,’ and Scand. linde, ‘girdle,’ derivatives of Linde, give no clue to the prim. meaning of the word. If we consider the change in meaning to which names of trees have been subject (see under Buche, Eiche, and Tanne), we might assume that Linde is related to Gr. ἐλάτη (from lentâ), ‘pine tree, white pine’; it can scarcely be connected with Lat. lentus, ‘flexible’ (comp. lind), as if the inner bark of the linden were used at an early period for cords.
Lindwurm, m., ‘winged serpent or dragon,’ borrowed, with the revival of MidHG. literature in the last century, from MidHG. lintwurm, OHG. lindwurm, m., ‘dragon’ (comp. also Wurm). The first component is identical in meaning with the second, which is only an explanation of the obscure term Lind, which was no longer understood; comp. OHG. lind, lint, ‘serpent’; OIc. linnr, ‘serpent’ (for *linþr). Windhund is a similar compound.
Linie, f., ‘line, lineage,’ from the equiv. MidHG. linie, f., from Lat. lînea, f., with a change of quantity. It occurs even in OHG.
link, adj., ‘left,’ from the equiv. MidHG. linc, adj., with the variant lęnc (gen. -kes); the form with sl is probably quite as old as that with initial l (comp. drosseln, Stier, Hocken, and lecken). In OHG. only lęncha, f., ‘left hand,’ is recorded; the adj. is rendered by winistar, MidHG. winster, in Bav. lërz, lërc, and tenk, Lower Rhen. slinc (this is doubtless a primitive variant of link, as is shown by the analogies under drosseln, Stier, Hocken, and lecken); in E. left (AS. *lyfte? Du. lucht). In the OTeut. dials. there are no other correspondences of link; perhaps ModHG. lenken is allied to this word with the prim. meaning ‘oblique, awry’; lenken signifies lit. ‘to direct obliquely.’ Schlimm may also be a cognate.
Linnen, n., a LG. form for Leinen, ‘linen,’ which was introduced in the last century into Upper Germany through the Westphalian linen trade. OSax. lînîn is still used as an adj., ‘flaxen, linen.’
Linse, f., ‘lentil, lens,’ from the equiv. MidHG. linse, OHG. linsi, f., with the MidHG. and OHG. variant linsîn. It is not certain whether the word comes from Lat. lens, f., because other borrowed terms are based not on the nomin. of the Lat. word (comp. Kreuz, Kelch, yet also Pabst), but on the stem appearing in the oblique cases; hence Lat. lent- (as is shown by AS. lens) ought to have appeared as *linz- in HG. An analogous case of an apparent permutation of nt to ns is furnished by E. flint, equiv. to OHG. flins, MidHG. vlins (see Flinte); these difficulties are not yet solved. Erbse, however, testifies that we are not compelled to assume that Linse was borrowed from Lat. Comp. also OSlov. lęšta (from *lentja), Lith. lènszis, ‘lentil.’
Lippe, f., ‘lip,’ unknown to MidHG. and OHG.; it has appeared in the written language since Luther. It is the LG. and ​MidG. word for UpG. Lefze; Comp. OSax. *lippa, Du. lip, AS. lippa, E. lip; in Goth. we have perhaps to assume *lipiô, f. According to OSax. lëpur the Teut. root is lep, and this, following the permutation of consonants, is based on leb. The correspondence with Lat. labium is generally accepted; but when this is connected with lambere, ‘to lick,’ difficulties are presented, especially by the meaning. To represent the lip as ‘that which licks’ is not satisfactory. In Teut. a vb. (OHG. laffan, pret. luof) corresponding to Lat. lambere has been retained, and the rules of gradation show that HG. Lippe cannot be allied to this; Lippe is connected rather with a Goth. vb. *lipan, not *lapan (OHG. laffan). Lat. labium was derived perhaps from *lebium (Goth. *lipjô) and connected with lambere; to this ModPers. lab, ‘lip,’ is allied. The LG. word passed through Du. into Fr. lippe, f., ‘blobber lip.’
lispeln, vb., ‘to lisp,’ with a diminutive or frequentative suffix from MidHG. and OHG. lispen, vb., ‘to stammer’; never ‘to speak through the lips’ as a derivative of Lefze (see Lippe); it rather represents wlispen (thus in Lower Rhen. in the 15th cent., also by transposition, wilspen?). Comp. AS. wlisp, wlips, OHG. lisp, ‘stammering’; E. to lisp, Du. lispen.
List, f., ‘craft, cunning, deceit,’ from MidHG. and OHG. list, m. (f. in MidG. and OHG.), ‘wisdom, prudence, slyness, sly purpose, cunning, art.’ Goth. lists is by chance not recorded with the ModHG. sense only. The meaning ‘prudence’ is the orig. one; AS. list, f., ‘art, propriety, cunning,’ E. list; OIc. list, f., ‘prudence, skill in an art, propriety.’ Thus the signification of the word fluctuates in several dials. between the prim. meaning ‘prudence’ and ‘cunning.’ The subst., as an old abstract in ti (Goth. listi-ns, acc. plur.), belongs by its structure to the Goth. pret. pres. lais, ‘I know’; the verbal stem lis, with the orig. sense ‘to know,’ is still widely diffused in HG., comp. lehren and lernen. Moreover, on the common Teut. listi- are based the Slav. cognates of OSlov. lĭstĭ and the Rom. class comprising Fr. leste and Ital. lesto, ‘skilful, nimble.’
Liste, f., ‘list, roll’ ModHG. only, from Fr. liste, Ital. lista, which are again derived from HG. Leiste (MidHG. lîste).
Litze, f., ‘twisted lace, bobbin,’ from MidHG. litze, f., ‘twisted lace, cord as a barrier’; from Lat. lîcium, n., ‘thread.’ The change made in the quantity when the word was borrowed in MidHG. as lĭtze is analogous to that in Lilie and Linie. From the Lat. lîcium (whence Fr. lice, ‘lists, arena’) are also derived Zwillich and Drillich, which see.
Lob, n., ‘praise,’ from MidHG. lop (b), OHG. lob, n. and m., ‘praise, reward, glorification’; corresponding to Du. lof, AS. lof, m., ‘praise, fame’; OIc. lof. n., ‘fame, reward, praise, laudatory poem,’ also ‘permission,’ points to the similarity of the roots of loben and erlauben (comp. MidHG. urloup and urlop, ‘permission’). The old gradation lub-liub-laub comprises ModHG. Lob, lieb, glauben, and erlauben; in AS., lufu (equiv. to E. love) is the weakest form of the root with the meaning corresponding to HG. lieb (Goth. liufs), Under lieb the prim. sense of the Aryan root leubh (Sans. lubh, Lat. lubet, lubido) is assumed to be ‘inclination’; in meaning, Lith. liaupsě, ‘hymn,’ láupsinti, ‘to extol,’ are the most closely allied. With regard to the gradation, it is also noteworthy that MidHG. and ModHG. loben, OHG. lobôn, lobên, vb., AS. lofian, vb., ‘to praise,’ are represented in OIc. by lofa, vb., ‘to praise, commend, permit,’ and that OIc. leyfa (from *laubjan) has also the same double sense. — ModHG. and MidHG. lobesam, adj., ‘laudable,’ OHG. lobosam, AS. lofsum; Goth. galufs, galaufs, ‘precious,’ lit. ‘having praise,’ so too OHG. glob, ‘precious.’
Loch, n., ‘hole, dungeon, haunt,’ from MidHG. loch, n., OHG. loh, gen. lohhes, n., ‘enclosed place, prison, lurking-place, cave, hole, opening.’ Comp. AS. loc, n., ‘enclosed place, lock’; loca, m., ‘enclosed place, prison’; from the former E. lock is derived. The various meanings all originate in ‘enclosed place’; comp. Goth. usluka-, ‘opening.’ The subst. is formed by gradation from an old Teut. vb. (obsolete in ModHG.), MidHG. lûchen, OHG. lûhhan, Goth. lûkan, AS. lûcan, ‘to lock,’ which may be compared (since the Pre-Teut. root is lū̆g) with Lith. lúżtu (lúżti), ‘to be broken,’ as well as with Sans. ruj, ‘to break.’
Locke, f., ‘lock, curl, tress,’ from the equiv. MidHG. loc (plur. locke), OHG. loc (plur. locchâ), m.; comp. AS. locc, E. lock, OIc. lokkr, Du. lok, ‘lock’ A common Teut. word for ‘lock’ (Goth. *lukks is by chance not recorded), and peculiar to the ​Teutons, who from the earliest times laid special stress on the mode of wearing the hair; the freeman was distinguished by his long streaming locks, while the bondman wore his hair short. The Southerners (see fahl) were specially struck with the golden curly hair of the Teutons when they first came into contact with them. It is true that curls were considered effeminate by the earlier Northmen, though in Germany they were fondly cherished. Comp. also Haar, Schopf, Hede, and other words for ‘hair’ peculiar to Teut. The primit. history of the word is obscure; Locke (as ‘that which is bent’) is most provably connected with an Aryan root, lug, ‘to draw, bend, curve’; comp. Gr. λυγ- in λυγόω, λυγίζω, ‘I bend, tie,’ also λύγος, ‘young, pliant twig’ (Lith. palugnas, adj., ‘pleasing’?). In Teut. the following are also probably allied to these — Goth. lûkan, ‘to draw’ (uslûkan, ‘to unsheathe a sword’), North. Eng. to look, ‘to weed,’ Bav. liechen, ‘to pluck’ (e.g. the flax out of the ground).
locken, vb., ‘to curl, entice,’ from MidHG. locken, OHG. locchôn, ‘to entice, allure, decoy,’ with the equiv. variant MidHG. lücken, OHG. lucchen. OIc. only has a corresponding lokka, ‘to entice.’ To these Lith. lugsti, ‘to beg,’ is primit. allied. Comp. Luder, allied to laden.
locker, adj., ‘loose, spongy, dissolute,’ first occurs in early ModHG. with the MidHG. variant loger; in UpG. lucke, lücke (now luck); from the same root as Lücke (Teut. root lug).
lodern, vb., ‘to blaze, flare,’ first occurs in early ModHG.; lit. perhaps ‘to spring up (of plants}’; a LG. word. Comp. Westphal. lodern, ‘to grow luxuriantly,’ to which OHG. lota, ‘young shoot,’ is allied; for the root lud see under Leute.
Löffel, m., ‘spoon, ladle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęffel, OHG. lęffil (lępfil), m.; corresponding to LG. and Du. lepel (whence Ic. lepill, ‘spoon’), Derived from a Teut. root lap, ‘to drink, lick,’ which is assumed by OHG. laffan, ‘to lick, AS. lapian, ‘to drink, lap’; further by Lat. lambere, ‘to lick’; hence Löffel means lit. ‘a utensil for sipping liquids’ (see Lefze and Lippe). The Scand. term is spánn, which was adopted in E. as spoon (in AS. cucelêre, equiv. to Lat. cochlear; see under Span.
loh, adj. (espec. in lichterloh, ‘in full blaze’), ‘blazing, flaring,’ ModHG. only; allied to the following word.
Lohe (1.), f., ‘blaze,’ from MidHG. lohe, m. (MidG. also f.), ‘flame, lurid ray,’ OHG. *loho (Goth. *laúha); the term used in OHG. was loug, MidHG. louc (AS. lêg, lîg). These, like OIc. loge, m., ‘flame,’ are derived from the Teut. root luh, ‘to give light,’ which still exists in HG. Licht, and which as Aryan luk appears in Lat. lucere, lux, OSlov. luča, ‘ray,’ and the Sans. ruc, ‘to shine,’ rocis, ‘light.’
Lohe (2.), f., ‘tanning bark,’ from the equiv. MidHG., MidLG., and OHG. lô (gen. lôwes), n.; comp. Du. looi. Distinct from Lohe (1), since it presumes a Goth. *lawa-; origin obscure.
lohen, vb., ‘to flare. blaze,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lohen, OHG. lohén; allied to Lohe (1).
Lohn, m., ‘reward, wages,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. lôn, m. and n.; a word common to OTeut.; comp. the equiv. Goth. laun, OIc. laun, AS. leán, Du. loon, OSax. lôn. Since na- is the suffix, we may connect the root lau- with OSlov. lovŭ, ‘booty, chase,’ Lat. lu-crum, ‘gain,’ Gr. ἀπολαύω, ‘to partake of’; others make it cognate with Or. lúag, ‘reward.’
Lolch, m., ‘darnel,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lulch, lullich, lulche, m.; the OHG. word is wanting, therefore it is difficult to determine when the term was borrowed from the equiv. Lat. lolîum. It is also conceivable that the G. word is independent of the Lat., especially as the former is lengthened by a guttural.
Loos, see Los.
Lorbeer, m., ‘laurel,’ from MidHG. lôrber, OHG. lôrbęri, n. and f.; lit. ‘the berry of the lôrboum’ (OHG. and MidHG.); lôr- in lôr-boum, lôr-beri, is Lat. laurus, ‘laurel tree,’ which was probably known in Germany even before the 7th cent. (comp. Ital. lauro, Fr. laurier).
Los, Loos, n., ‘lot, fate, chance,’ from MidHG. and OHG. lôȥ, m. and n., ‘lot, casting lots, drawing a lot, disposal by lottery, division of an inheritance’; comp. Goth. hlauts, ‘lot, inheritance,’ OIc. hlaut (hlutr), ‘lot, portion, sacrifice,’ AS. hlŷt and hlot, E. lot. To these are allied the str. vbs. — OIc. hljóta, AS. hleótan, OSax. hliotan, OHG. lioȥan, MidHG. lieȥen, ‘to obtain by lot, acquire.’ This verbal stem in heathen times was probably a sacrificial term (comp. MidHG. lieȥen, ‘to predict,’ OIc. hlaut, ‘sacrifice’; also Tacitus, Germania, 10). Old derivatives of this root ​hlut, which is peculiar to Teut., passed also into Rom.; comp. Ital. lotto, ‘lottery urn,’ Fr. lot, ‘share,’ OFr. lotir, ‘to cast lots, predict,’ Fr. loterie, ‘lottery.’
los, adj., ‘loose, released,’ from MidHG. lôs, ‘free, unimpeded, bare, plundered, released, wanton, not solid, frivolous’; corresponding to Goth. laus, ‘empty, invalid, vain,’ OIc. ‘loose, free, unimpeded,’ AS. leás, ‘loose, false, deceitful’ (to this is allied E. leas, ‘lie’ and E. -less, only as the second part of a compound; E. loose is borrowed from Scand.), Du. los, OSax. lôs; the adj. form lausa-, common to Teut., is from the root lus, ‘to be loose,’ discussed under verlieren. From the Teut. adj. is derived Span. lozano, ‘merry, cheerful.’ See lösen.
löschen (1.), vb., ‘to extinguish, go out’; in the ModHG. vb. two MidHG. vbs. are comprised, MidHG. lëschen (most frequently erlëschen), str. vb., ‘to cease to burn, go out,’ and the corresponding factitive lęschen, ‘to extinguish’; comp. OHG. lëskan, irlëskan, intrans., and lęsken, trans.; this verbal stem is unknown to the other Teut. languages. The sk of OHG. lëskan is really a suffix of the pres. stem (see dreschen and waschen), as may be inferred from the connection with the Teut. root leg (see liegen); erlöschen is lit. ‘to lie down.’
löschen (2.), vb., ‘to discharge a ship,’ borrowed from the equiv. LG., Du. lossen; comp. Dan. losse, Swed. lossa; the origin and early history of the cognates are unknown (comp. Boot, Bord, and Rahe).
lösen, vb., ‘to loosen, free,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lœsen, OHG. lôsen (*lôsjan); a derivative of the MidHG. and OHG. adj. lôs (see los); comp. Goth. lausjan, ‘to loosen,’ from laus, ‘loose.’
Losung, f., ‘war-cry, watchword,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. losunge, lôȥunge, the first appearance of which in the 15th cent. makes it impossible to determine the correct MidHG. form and its derivation (from Los? or from losen, ‘to hear’? see lauschen).
Lot, n., ‘lead (or soft metal), half an ounce,’ from MidHG. lôt (in OHG. by chance not recorded), n., ‘lead, weight cast from lead’; corresponding to Du. lood, ‘lead, kind of weight,’ AS. leád, E. lead. The old West Teut. *lauda-, n., ‘lead,’ is connected with the equiv. OIr. luáide. —
löten, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. lœten, ‘to solder,’ is a derivative of Lot. —
lötig, ‘of due alloy,’ corresponds in compounds to MidHG. lœtec, ‘of full weight, containing the due proportion of a noble metal.’
Lotse, m., ‘pilot,’ like löschen (2) ModHG. only; borrowed from LG. and Du. loots, loods, ‘pilot.’ Perhaps the word originated in E. in which loadsman, ‘steersman,’ occurs as an old compound of load, AS. lâd, ‘street, way’ (see leiten). With regard to the o in Lotse, see Boot.
Lotter-, in compounds like Lotterbube, ‘vagrant, knave,’ from MidHG. loter, ‘slack, light-minded, frivolous, knave, ne'er-do-well, buffoon,’ OHG. lotar, ‘empty, vain’; comp. AS. loddêre, ‘villain.’ Allied to liederlich.
Löwe, m., ‘lion,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęwe, lëwe (louwe, löuwe), OHG. lëwo, lęwo (louwo), m.; comp. OSax. and AS. leo, Du. leeuw; undoubtedly a loan-word, since there is no common Teut. and no old Aryan term for ‘lion.’ Lat. leo, however, does not suffice to explain all the G. forms of Middle Europe. OHG. louwo and MidHG. löuwe, ‘lion,’ are specially abnormal (E. lion is derived from Fr. lion). These late occurring OHG. forms with ou are preserved in ModHG. names of places and streets, such as Lauenburg, Lauengasse. The MidHG. fem. lunze (also lewinne), ‘lioness,’ still remains obscure.
Luchs, m., ‘lynx,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. luhs, m.; corresponding to OSax. lox, Du. losch, AS. lox, m. The s of this OTeut. stem is a suffix, as in Fuchs; hence Swed. lô (Goth. *laúhô), and in the non-Teut. languages Lith. lúszis, Gr. λυγκ-, ‘lynx.’ It is probably related to the root luh in Licht (OIc. ljós, ‘light,’ AS. lîxan, ‘to give light’), since the sharp, gleaming eyes of the lynx may have given rise to the name.
Lücke, f., ‘gap, chasm,’ from MidHG. lücke, lucke, OHG. lucka, from *luggja, f., ‘hole, gap,’ closely allied to locker (MidHG. loger, UpG. luck). The UpG. dials. contain a prim. form *luggia (Swiss lugg, not lukχ), hence OHG. luccha, ‘gap,’ is abnormal. For this reason too the phonetic relation of the word to Loch is obscure.
Luder, n., ‘lure, decoy, bait,’ from MidHG. luoder, n., ‘bait, gluttony, dissolute life, loose woman’ (from an OTeut. lôþra- is derived Fr. leurre, ‘lure, bait’). Its connection with ModHG. laden is probable, since ‘bait’ is the orig. sense.
Lüderlich, see liederlich.
​ Luft, f. (UpG. masc.), ‘air, breeze,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. luft, m. and f.; a common Teut. term; comp. Goth. luftus, OIc. lopt, AS. lyft (E. lift, dial. only), OSax. luft, Du. lucht, ‘air’. Whether OIc. lopt, ‘loft’ (comp. Laube), is a derivative of the same word remains dubious; nor is it of any help in determining the primit. sense of the specifically Teut. luftu-, especially as indubitable cognates in the non-Teut. languages are wanting.
Lug, m., Lüge, f., ‘lie, falsehood,’ from the equiv. MidHG. luc (g), lüge (lügene), OHG. lugin, f.; an abstract of lügen (dial. liegen), MidHG. liegen, OHG. liogan, str. vb. ‘to lie.’ Comp. OSax. lugina, ‘lie,’ from liogan, Du. leugen, logen, from liegen, AS. lyge (E. lie), from leógan, Goth. liugn, ‘lie,’ from liugan, str. vb. ‘to lie.’ —
Lügner, m., ‘liar,’ from MidHG. lügenœre, OHG. luginâri. To this common Teut. root lug (Aryan lugh), ‘to lie,’ Goth. liugan (pret. liugaida), ‘to marry,’ has no relation; the latter, like OFris. logia, ‘to marry,’ is connected rather with OIr. luige, ‘oath’ (primit. form lughio-). ModHG. lügen is more probably allied to OSlov. lŭžą (lŭgati), ‘to lie,’ lŭža, ‘lie.’ From Teut., Ital. (dial.) luchina, ‘false story,’ is derived.
lugen, vb., ‘to look out, spy,’ from the equiv. MidHG. luogen, OHG. luogên; corresponding to OSax. lôcôn, AS. lôcian, E. to look, with an abnormal k for g. From these Norman luquer is borrowed. The early history of this West Teut. stem lôkai, lôgai-, is obscure.
Luke, f., ‘dormer window, hole, hatchway,’ prop. a LG. word meaning ‘opening’; allied to Loch.
lullen, vb., ‘to lull,’ ModHG. only; a recent onomatopoetic term.
Lümmel, m., ‘lubber, scoundrel,’ first occurs in ModHG.; probably derived from the antiquated adj. lumm, ‘relaxed, loose,’ which is based on MidHG. lüeme, OHG. luomi, ‘mild, languid’ (MidHG. lüemen, ‘to slacken, relax, be wearied’), and connected with lahm.
Lump, m., ‘scamp, ragamuffin,’ ModHG. only; prop. identical with Lumpen, m., ‘rag, tatter,’ which in late MidHG. appears as lumpe with the same sense. It was probably introduced from LG.; comp. Du. lomp, ‘rag, tatter, patch,’ lomperd, ‘lout’ (to this OIc. leppr, ‘shield,’ is allied?); comp. Lappen and Lasse. — lumpen, vb., lit. ‘to treat or regard as a ragamuffin.’
Lunge, f., ‘lung,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lunge, OHG. lungun (plur. lungunnâ), f.; corresponding to the equiv. Goth. *luggô, OIc. lunga, AS. lungen, E. lungs (prop. plur. on account of the two lobes), Du. long. Some etymologists connect these cognates with the OTeut. root ling, ‘to be light,’ which appears in leicht and gelingen. Comp. Port. leve, ‘lung,’ from Lat. levis, ‘light,’ E. lights from light, Russ. legkoe from legkij.
lungern, vb., ‘to seek prey, yearn,’ ModHG. only; a derivative of the West Teut. adj., MidHG. lunger, OHG. lungar, ‘speedy, quick,’ AS. lungor, ‘quick,’ which, with Gr. ἐλαφρός, ‘quick,’ is connected with the Aryan root lengh, discussed under the preceding word (see leicht).
Lüning, m., ‘sparrow’ (LG.), from the equiv. OSax. hliuning. Origin obscure.
Lünse, f., ‘linch-pin,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. luns, lunse; comp. OSax. lunisa, Du. luns, lens. In OHG. lun, luna, MidHG. lun, lune, f., also OHG. luning, MidHG. lüninc, lüner, ‘lungs’; comp. AS. lynes, m., E. linch-pin (Goth. *lunisi is wanting); it may have been formed like Goth. aqizi, jukuzi. Some etymologists connect these cognates with the Aryan root lu, ‘to loosen,’ discussed under verlieren, so that Lünse is lit. ‘peg for loosening the wheel.’ Comp. further AS. âlynnan, ‘to release.’
Lunte, f., ‘lunt, match,’ ModHG. only; corresponding to Du. lonte, E. lunt, Dan. lunte. In earlier ModHG. and in modern dials. it signifies ‘wick of a lamp’ (prop. ‘tow’?), allied to MidHG. lünden, ‘to burn’ (OHG. lunda, ‘tallow’?). Further cognates are uncertain. — Lunte, ‘brush of a fox,’ is a figurative sense of Lunte, ‘lunt’ (i.e., from its fiery colour).
lüpfen, ‘to set free and then raise aloft,’ an UpG. vb., from the equiv. MidHG. lüpfen, lupfen. Since the word is not found in other languages (Goth. *luppjan?), its origin cannot be discovered; perhaps it is connected with the cognates of Läufel. In ModHG. a modern vb., lüften (allied to Luft), ‘to lift,’ has supplanted the cognate phonetic form lüpfen.
Lust, f., ‘pleasure, delight, fancy, lust,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lust, m. and f., OHG. lust, f.; corresponding to Goth. lustus, OIc. lyst, AS. lyst, lust, E. list, lust, Du. and OSax. lust; a common Teut. abstract, the origin of which is still dubious. Its relation to lieben (Teut. root lub, ‘to ​desire’), as well as to the root lus (see verlieren) is improbable; it is rather connected with a root has, ‘to desire,’ to which is allied Gr. λιλαζομαι, Sans. root laš (for lals), ‘to desire,’ and also with the Sans. root lod, lud, ‘to move.’
lutschen, vb., ‘to suck,’ ModHG. only, a recent onomatopoetic term.