Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/224

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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, Mid

HG. 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.