An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/leicht

by Friedrich Kluge

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.