An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/lieb

by Friedrich Kluge

lieb, adjective, ‘dear, esteemed,’ from the equivalent Middle High German liep (inflected lieber), Old High German liob (inflected liobêr). It corresponds to Gothic liufs (b), Anglo-Saxon leóf, English lief, adjective, Dutch lief, Old Icelandic ljúfr; a common Teutonic adjective with the general meaning ‘dear’; it is regularly derived from pre-Teutonic *léubho-, which is accurately represented by Old Slovenian ljubŭ (Aryan root leubh, by gradation lubh). An Old Aryan adjective for ‘dear’ (Sanscrit priyá-s) was changed in meaning at an early period in Teutonic (see frei) and supplanted by lieb; Modern High German and Middle High German lieben, Old High German liubôn, ‘to love’; to this is allied Anglo-Saxon lufian, English to love, with a weaker vowel stage of the root (Anglo-Saxon lufu, equivalent to English love). Since High German Lob, geloben, erlauben, glauben belong to the same Teutonic root lub, by gradation leub (pre-Teutonic lubh, leubh), we must assign to the latter a wider meaning, something like ‘pleasure’ and ‘approbation’; Sanscrit lubh, ‘to demand violently,’ Latin lŭbens, libens, ‘with pleasure, willingly,’ lŭbet, ‘it pleases, is agreeable,’ lŭbîdo, libîdo, ‘pleasure, longing, desire.’ With these perhaps the common Teutonic word lustus, equivalent to Lust, is also connected.