An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/leihen

by Friedrich Kluge

leihen, verb, ‘to lend, borrow,’ from Middle High German lîhen, Old High German lîhan, strong verb, ‘to take on credit,’ rarely ‘to give on credit’; so too Gothic leihwan, Anglo-Saxon león (contracted from lîhan), of which only the allied forms loan and to lend have been preserved in English (compare Lehen and lehnen). These derivatives, which appear in several dialects, are based on the common Teutonic 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’; Sanscrit ric (for lik), present rinácmi, ‘to abandon a thing, give up, set free, empty, clear, give way for a certain sum’; to this are allied rikthám, neuter, ‘bequest, inheritance,’ reknas, neuter, ‘property left behind, wealth’ (see Lehen), riktás, adjective, and rêku-s, adjective, ‘empty’; also Latin linquo, relinquo, reliquus; Greek λείπω, with very numerous meanings, ‘to forsake, leave over or behind, omit’; λοιπός, adjective, ‘remaining’; Old Icelandic léicim (primary form leiqó), ‘I leave, relinquish’; Lithuanian lëku, likti, ‘to leave behind,’ pálaikas, ‘remnant,’ Old Slovenian otŭ-lěkŭ, ‘remnant, relic.’