An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/verlieren

by Friedrich Kluge

verlieren, vb., ‘to lose,’ from the equiv. MidHG. verliesen, OHG. virliosan; a common Teut. str. vb., to which the equiv. Goth. fraliusan, AS. forleósan, Du. verliezen correspond. Gr. λύω, ‘to loosen’ (ἀλεύω, ‘to avoid, keep far away’?), Lat. solvo (partic. so-lû-tus), ‘to loosen’ (Sans. lû, ‘to tear to pieces’), and Goth. luns, ‘ransom,’ which point to an Aryan lū̆, are closely connected with the Teut. root lus, to which los and lösen are also related. —