Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/234

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lîhan), of which only the allied forms loan and to lend have been preserved in E. (comp. Lehen and lehnen). These derivatives, which appear in several dialects, are based on the common Teut. meaning ‘to lend.’ The correspondences in the cognate languages prove that this is only a specialisation of a general sense, ‘to leave,’ The Aryan root lik occurs with the meanings ‘to leave behind, forsake, set free, relinquish’; Sans. ric (for lik), pres. rinácmi, ‘to abandon a thing, give up, set free, empty, clear, give way for a certain sum’; to this are allied rikthám, n., ‘bequest, inheritance,’ reknas, n., ‘property left behind, wealth’ (see Lehen), riktás, adj., and rêku-s, adj., ‘empty’; also Lat. linquo, relinquo, reliquus; Gr. λείπω, with very numerous meanings, ‘to forsake, leave over or behind, omit’; λοιπός, adj., ‘remaining’; OIc. léicim (prim. form leiqó), ‘I leave, relinquish’; Lith. lëku, likti, ‘to leave behind,’ pálaikas, ‘remnant,’ OSlov. otŭ-lěkŭ, ‘remnant, relic.’

Leilachen, Leilach, n., ‘sheet,’ from MidHG. lîlachen, lîlach, n., ‘bed-linen, sheet.’ The ModHG. and MidHG. word originated in lîn-lacken, which form is often recorded in MidHG. (Leinlachen in earlier ModHG.), and appears in OHG. as lîn-lahhan; lînl- was assimilated in MidHG. to lîll- and ll simplified after a long vowel. A similar course was followed by the OIc. cognate lé-rept for *línrept, *línript, ‘linen.’ The derivation of Leilachen from MidHG. lîhlachen, OHG. lîh-lahhan, ‘body-linen’ (comp. Leiche, for OHG. lîh), is less probable, because an assimilation of chl to ll, l, is scarcely credible.

Leim, m., ‘glue, birdlime,’ from the equiv. MidHG., MidLG., and OHG. lîm, m.; corresponding to Du. lijm, AS. lîm, E. lime; Scand. lím, n., ‘glue, lime’; Goth. *leima is wanting. The common Teut. lîma- is related by gradation to the common Teut. laima-, mentioned under Lehm; the prim. meaning, ‘earthy, adhesive substance,’ is deduced from the E. and Scand. signification ‘glue, lime.’ Lat. lîmus, ‘slime,’ is more closely connected with HG. Lehm in meaning, but with HG. Leim in its graded form î. The root lai, by gradation lî, is authenticated by OIc. leir, n. (see Lehm), and Lat. li-no, ‘to rub over.’ Its relation to Gr. λειμών, ‘mars,’ and γλοιός, ‘sticky, clammy stuff,’ is less certain.

Lein, m., ‘flax,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. lîn, m. and n.; comp. Leinen.

Leine, f., ‘line,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. lîne, f., late OHG. lîna, f., ‘rope, cable, line,’ espec. ‘towline.’ The derivation from Lat. lînea is doubtful, because the latter does not signify ‘cable’ even in MidLat. but specially ‘plumb-line,’ and in MidLat. ‘measure of length.’ As far as the sense is concerned, the word is more closely connected with Lat. lînum, ‘thread, cable, rope’; hence OHG. lîna is the plur. of the Lat. word. In Rom. and MidLat., however, lînum does not occur in this sense. Perhaps Leine, as an independent Teut. derivative of lîn, ‘linen,’ corresponds to Gr. λιναία, λινέα, ‘rope, cord’?. In that case AS. lîne, E. line, and OIc. lína (Goth. *leinjô, lit. ‘what is prepared from flax’), are also formed according to the genuinely Teut. principle (suffix, jôn).

Leinen, n., ‘linen,’ prop. a neut. adj. used as a subst., MidHG. lînen, lînîn, ‘(of) linen.’ It is based on MidHG. lîn, m., ‘flax, linen, linen garment,’ OHG. and OSax. lîn, n., Goth. lein, n., ‘linen.’ In this case, as in that of Hanf, it is doubtful whether the term (common Teut. lîna-) is cognate with or borrowed from the similarly sounding words in Lat. and Gr. If the Teut. word is really borrowed, the relation of the consonants proves that Hanf was known to the Teutons previous to the permutation of consonants, i.e., long before our era; the same may be said of lîna-, ‘flax,’ since Pliny and Tacitus testify that linen was used among the Teutons when they wrote. Perhaps we may regard Scythian as the source of the cognates, as is indicated by the absence of the word among the Eastern Aryans. Comp. Lat. lînum, Gr. λίνο-ν, OSlov. lĭnŭ, Lith. linaì, ‘flax’; λῖ- was retained in the dat. λῖ-τί, plur. λῖ-τα, hence the root of lînum, λίνον, is lī̆- and no, the suffix. Comp. Leilachen and Leine. —

Leinwand, f., is a ModHG. corruption of MidHG. lînwât, f., ‘linen,’ connecting it with HG. Gewand. The old wât (OHG. and MidHG.) has become obsolete in ModHG.; like AS. wœ̂d, ‘garment,’ it is allied to a lost Aryan root, wê, ‘to weave.’

Leis, m., ‘canticle,’ borrowed from MidHG. and early ModHG. leis, leise, m., ‘spiritual song,’ shortened from kĭrléise. Kyrie eleison was the refrain of hymns.

leise, adj., ‘low, soft, gentle,’ from Mid