Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/228

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no clue (Gr. κραιπνός, ‘swift,’ is not allied to Goth. hlaupan, which may be preferably compared with Lith. klupti, ‘to stumble’). The Teut. root hlaup has a collateral form hlŭp, by gradation hlŏp (MidHG. and ModHG. dial. geloffen, partic.), of which a variant hlaubt appears in Swiss lôpen, ‘to run’ (comp. hüpfen, Bav. hoppen). ModHG. Lauft, plur. Läufte, m., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. louft, m., ‘course (of time),’ (MidHG. plur. löufte, ‘conjunctures’).

Lauge, f., ‘lye,’ from the equiv. MidHG. louge, OHG. louga, f.; corresponding to MidLG. lôge, Du. loog, AS. leáh, and the equiv. E. lye. In OIc. laug, f., means ‘warm bath’ (preserved in ModIc. in numerous proper names, and signifying ‘hot spring’). Perhaps this Teut. word for ‘warm bath’ is connected with the Aryan root, low, lu, ‘to bathe’ (comp. Lat. lavâre), like the equiv. Swed. lut, of which an extended Aryan luk, equiv. to Teut. luh, ‘to wash,’ may appear in OHG. luhhen, ‘to wash,’ Suab. lichen, North Franc. and Henneberg lüen, ‘to rinse washed linen.’ The HG. word occurs in the Slav. languages as lug, ‘lye.’

läugnen, vb., ‘to contradict, deny,’ from the equiv. MidHG. löugenen, lougenen, lougen, OLG. louginen, lougnen, wk. vb.; corresponding to OSax. lôgnian, AS. lêhnan, lŷgnan, Goth. laugnjan, wk. vb., ‘to deny’; OIc. leyna, ‘to conceal’ (Goth. galaugnjan, ‘to be concealed’), with the loss of a g before the n. A common Teut. wk. vb. with the meaning ‘to deny’; it is a derivative of an OHG. noun lougna, f., ‘denial’ (OIc. laun), which is formed by gradation from the stem of lügen (root lug). Comp. lügen.

Laune, f., ‘humour, freak,’ from MidHG. lûne, f., ‘humour, mood’; the ModHG. word also signifies ‘phase of the moon, quarter of the moon, change of fortune.’ This series of meanings shows that the word is based on Lat. lûna, and that the astrology of the Middle Ages in its attempt to read the fortunes of men by the stars determined the different significations. Ital. luna, Fr. les lunes, E. lunatic, lunacy, lune, all referring to mental states, give evidence of the belief that the moon influenced the moods of men.

Laus, f., ‘louse,’ from the equiv. MidHG., MidLG., and OHG. lûs, f.; corresponding to AS. lûs, E. louse, Scand. lús (plur. lýss), Du. luis, ‘louse.’ The word is common to Teut., occurring evelywhere

in the same sense. The usual derivation of Laus from the stem of verlieren, Ver-lus-t, lose, löse (root lus), although supported by the analogy of Gr. φθείρ, ‘louse,’ from φθείρω, is dubious, since MidHG. verliesen (prop. ‘to lose’) does not occur at an early period in the sense of ‘to spoil.’ Neither is the derivation from the Teut. root lū̆t, ‘to hide oneself’ (OHG. lûȥȥên, see lauschen), certain.

lauschen, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. (rare) and MidLG. lûschen, wk. vb., ‘to listen, lurk’; the meaning points to the oft-recurring OTeut. stem hlū̆s, ‘to hear,’ so that *hlûskan for *hlûs-skai-, with a derivative sk-, may be assumed. Comp. OHG. hlosên, MidHG. losen, ‘to listen to, hearken,’ OIc. hlus-t, ‘ear.’ Eng. has preserved the cognates in AS. hlyst, f., ‘hearing,’ hlystan, ‘to listen or hearken to,’ E. to list, listen; OHG. lûs-trên, MidHG. lū̆stren, Suab. and Bav. laustern, ‘to hearken,’ MidHG. lusemen, lüsenen, ‘to hearken.’ The OTeut. verbal stem hlus, authenticated by this group, from pre-Teut. klus, has cognate terms in Ind. and Slav.; Ind. crušṭís, f., ‘hearing, obedience’; OSlov. slyšati, ‘to hear,’ sluchŭ, m., ‘hearing,’ Lith. klausà, f., ‘obedience,’ paklùsti, ‘to obey,’ klausýti, ‘to hear.’ To this root klus, ‘to hear,’ a shortened form klu is allied; comp. laut and Leumund. ModHG. lauschen also seems to be connected in a subsidiary manner with MidHG. lôschen, OHG. lôscên, ‘to be hidden, concealed.’ Comp. MidDu. luuschen, ‘to be concealed,’ allied to the equiv. OHG. lûȥȥên (Bav. laußen, ‘to lie in ambush,’ still exists).

laut, adj., ‘loud,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. lût (for an earlier hlût, Goth. *hlûda-); a common Teut. adj. (comp. Du. luid, AS. hlûd, E. loud), which, like falt, alt, tot, gewiß, traut, zart, -haft, kund, satt, wund, was orig. an old partic. in to (Lat. tus, Gr. τος, Ind. tas). The meaning of *klû-dâ-s, pre-Teut. klû-tó-s, from the root klū̆, ‘to hear,’ is lit. ‘audible, heard.’ Another shade of meaning was assumed by the Aryan partic. in the cognate languages — Sans. çrutás, Gr. κλυτός, Lat. inclŭtus, ‘famous.’ In Teut. also there are traces of the short vowel (hlŭda-), especially in proper names, Ludwig, Lothar, Ludolf, Chlothilde, &c. Moreover, the root klū̆ (Gr. κλύω, ‘I hear,’ κλέος, ‘fame’; Ind. çrávas, ‘fame’; OSlov. sluti, ‘to be called,’ slovo for *slevo, ‘word’; Lat. cluo, clueo, ‘to hear oneself