Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/229

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called’) is also widely diffused in OTeut.; Goth. hliuma, ‘hearing, ear,’ OIc. hljómr, AS. hleóþor, ‘tone, voice, melody. Comp. lauschen and Leumund.

Laut, m., ‘sound,’ from MidHG. lût, m., ‘sound, tone, voice, cry.’ — laut, prep. with gen., is a form of the subst.; lit. ‘according to the sound of, &c.; MidHG. nâch lût, e.g. der briefe, ‘according to the letters,’ nâch lût des artikels, ‘according to the article,’ then also simply lût des artikels. Orig. used only of the contents of documents read out.

Laute, f., ‘lute,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. lûte, f., which is derived from Fr. luth; comp. OFr. leút, Ital. liúto, the origin of which from Arab. al'ûd, ‘musical instrument,’ is accepted; hence the connection between Laute and Laut or Lied must be rejected.

läuten, vb., ‘to ring, chime,’ MidHG. liuten, wk. vb., ‘to utter a sound, cause to resound, ring,’ OHG. lûtten, ‘to make audible.’ Comp. AS. hlŷdan, ‘to be audible, make a loud noise, shout, sound.’

lauter, adj., ‘pure, mere,’ from MidHG. lûter, adj., ‘bright, pure, clear’ OHG. lûttar, hlûttar. Since Goth. and LG. tr is not permutated in HG. (comp. zittern, Winter, Eiter, Otter, and bitter), Goth. hlûtrs, ‘pure,’ AS. hlûttor, ‘pure, clear’ (wanting in E.), and Du. louter are corresponding forms. A prim. Teut. adj. perhaps orig. signifying ‘washed’ (like Lat. lautus, lit. ‘washed,’ then ‘splendid, magnificent’). This prim. meaning may be assumed since the Teut. root hlût, preserved only in the adj. lauter, is cognate with Gr. κλυδ and κλύζω, ‘to rinse out, wash, cleanse,’ and κλύδων, ‘beating of the waves.’

Lavendel, m. and f., ‘lavender,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lavendel, f. and m.; MidLat. lavendula (Ital. lavendola).

lavieren, vb., ‘to veer, tack,’ ModHG. only, from Du. laveeren, whence also Fr. louvoyer.

Lawine, f., ‘avalanche,’ ModHG. simply; from Swiss, in which Lauwin, pronounced with a G. accent, was current at an earlier period. The word passed in the 18th cent. into the written language, orig. with the variants Lauwine, Lauine, Läue, Loewin. Although we might regard the word as a derivative of Lat. labina on account of Föhn, which is undoubtedly of Lat. origin, yet it probably comes from a genuine Teut. source; for the medial Lat. b would be

represented only by b or f (v) in G. (MidHG. *lęvene). Moreover, the numerous dial. variants point to a G. root, and, indeed, to kinship with lau; thus with Bav. läuen, läunen, ‘to be softened by a mild temperature, thaw,’ is connected Bav. läuen, läun, ‘thaw, mass of half-melted snow, avalanche,’ and Swiss läue, láui (plur. láuine), ‘avalanche,’ with läu, ‘warm enough to thaw.’ Even in OHG. an allied word lęwina, ‘cascade,’ occurs.

leben, vb., ‘to live,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëben, OHG. lëbên; corresponding to Goth. liban (pret. libaida), AS. libban, E. to live, Du. leven; Scand. lifą, ‘to live,’ and also ‘to be remaining.’ This proves the identity of the stem lib, ‘to live,’ with that of bleiben (Goth. bileiban); hence the connection with Gr. λΓπαραεῖν, ‘to persist', to which λιπαρής, ‘persistent, industrious,’ is allied, probably also Lith. lìpti, ‘to adhere.’ Comp. bleiben and Leib.

Leber, f., ‘liver,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëber, lëbere, OHG. lëbara, f.; the ë of the stem is an old i (comp. beben and leben); corresponds to Du. and MidLG. lever, AS. lifer, E. liver, OIc. lifr, f. Some have attempted to connected with this common Teut. word equiv. terms in the non-Teut. languages — Gr. ἥπαρ, Lat. jecur, Sans. yakṛt, and have assumed two stems, lik and ljē̆k (jêk); in that case the medial labial in Leber would represent an orig. guttural as in vier, fünf, elf, Wolf, &c. Equally uncertain is the explanation from the Gr. λίπα, ‘fat,’ λιπαρός, ‘sticky, greasy’; nor does it seem probable that Gr. λαπάρα, f., ‘loins, flanks,’ is allied, because the OTeut. word has an old i.

Lebkuchen, m., ‘gingerbread,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëbekuocke, m., allied to the equiv. MidHG. lëbezelte. The derivation of lëb-, from Slav. lipa, ‘lime-time,’ Pol. lipiec, ‘finest honey (lime-tree honey),’ is improbable; Lat. lîbum, too, hardly suffices to explain the HG. word. MidHG. lëbe- is more probably a graded form of MidHG. leip (see Laib), ‘bread.’ Or is it connected with ModSlov. lepenj, ‘a sort of cake’?

lechzen, vb., ‘to be parched with thirst,’ from MidHG. lëchzen, lëchezen, prop. ‘to dry,’ then ‘to be parched with thirst’ (comp. Durst). It is connected with the earlier ModHG. adj. lëch, ‘leaky,’ for which the LG. form is used (comp. leck), MidHG. lëchen, ‘to dry up, crack and leak through dryness’; in Goth. probably a str. vb.