Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/237

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letzen, vb., ‘to injure,’ from lętzen, OHG. lęzzen, ‘to check, stop, hinder, damage, hurt’; corresponding to Goth. latjan, galatjan, ‘to stop, check,’ AS. lęttan, E. to let; a common Teut. denominative from the adj. lata-; comp. laß and lassen.

sich letzen, ‘to indulge oneself, from MidHG. lętzen, ‘to liberate, do one a kindness, take one's leave, regale oneself.’ See also the following word.

letzt, super. adj., ‘last,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęst, lęȥȥist, super. of laȥ, adj., ‘faint’; the ModHG. form seems to be due to LG., which must have produced (lętist and lęzt (for lętst). These forms actually occur in the Heliand. In OHG. lęȥȥist, laȥȥôst, AS. lœtma and lœtmest (pointing to a Goth. *latuma, ‘latest’); also AS. latost, E. last. The posit. of these OTeut. superlats. is the OTeut. adject. stem lata- (see laß), lit. ‘lazy, inactive, dilatory’; letzter orig. means ‘most dilatory, latest’ (comp. AS. and E. late). In the phrase zu guter Leztz, ‘for the last time, finally,’ the noun is a corruption of Letz, which is connected with MidHG. lętzen, ‘to end, take one's leave, take refreshment,’ mentioned under letzen, hence the expression meant orig. ‘as a choice farewell-banquet.’

Leuchse, f., ‘rail-tie,’ a Bav. and Suab. word, from the equiv. MidHG. liuhse; probably cognate with the equiv. Czech lušnĕ, Pol. lusnia, Russ. ljušnja, if these are not connected rather with Lünse.

Leuchte, f., ‘light, lamp,’ from MidHG. liuhte, f., ‘light, apparatus for giving light,’ also ‘brightness, lustre’; a derivative of Licht.

leuchten, vb., from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. liuhten, ‘to shine, give light,’ corresponding to Goth. liuhtjan, ‘to shine, give light’; an OTeut. denominative from the adj. liuhta-, ‘light’; leuchten meant lit. ‘to be light, bright.’ Comp. licht.

Leumund, m., ‘reputation, character,’ from MidHG. and OHG. liumunt, m., ‘reputation, fame, report.’ In ModHG. it is perhaps instinctively interpreted as Leute Mund, ‘mouth of the people’; but the word is not a compound. In Goth. probably *hliumunds, m., which must be referred to hliuma, ‘hearing, ear’; -munda- is perhaps an affix corresponding to Gr. -ματ- and Lat. -mento- (in co-gnô-mentum). The root hliu- has numerous derivatives, both in the Teut. and non-Teut. languages (comp. laut, läuten, Gr. κλέος, Sans. çrávas, ‘fame’); Sans. çrômata-m., n., ‘hearing,’

corresponds most nearly in form to HG. Leumund. Lat. crîmen has absolutely nothing to do with these last two terms. Verleumden, ‘to calumniate,’ is not based directly on Leumund, but on a MidHG. liumde, normally abbreviated from it.

Leute, plur only, ‘people,’ from MidHG. liute, m. and n. plur., ‘people, persons,’ with the sing. liut, m. and n., ‘nation’; OHG. liuti, m. and n. plur., ‘people,’ also liut, m. and n., ‘nation’; corresponding to AS. leóde, plur., ‘people’. It is uncertain whether we have to assume *liudus, ‘nation,’ in Goth. The word is common to Teut. and Slav.; OSlov. ljudŭ, m., ‘nation,’ plur.,’ ljudije, ‘people,’ Lett. laudis, m. plur., ‘people, nation.’ They are connected with an Aryan root ludh, ‘to grow,’ which retained its meaning in Goth. liudan, OSax. liodan, AS. leódan, OHG. liotan; comp. the Sans. root ruh, ‘to grow.’ The following Teut. words are also connected with the same stem, Goth. lauþs (gen. laudis) in swalauþs, ‘so great,’ samalauþs, ‘equally great, equal,’ juggalauþs, ‘youth,’ MidHG. lôte, ‘constituted’; Goth. ludjô-, f., ‘face’; AS. leód, m., ‘king.’

-lich, adj. suffix, from MidHG. -lī̆ch, -lîch (the short vowel on account of its position in an unaccented syllable), OHG. -lîch; corresponding to Goth. -leiks, AS. -lîc, E. -ly. Orig. identical with the OTeut. lîka-, ‘body,’ discussed under Leichnam and gleich; Goth. waíraleiks, ‘male,’ lit. ‘having a male body.’ In this manner -lîka is used in all the dials. as an adj. suffix. In some pronominal forms (solcher and welcher) the old -lîk represents a suffix corresponding to Gr. -λίκος in τηλίκος, πηλίκος. See gleich and männiglich.

licht, adj., ‘light, luminous,’ from MidHG. lieht, OHG. lioht, adj., ‘bright, radiant, shining’; corresponding to AS. leóht, E. light, adj.; Goth. *liuhts, ‘bright,’ may be inferred from its derivative liuhtan, ‘to give light’ (see leuchten). It is questionable whether the dental licht is of particip. origin. as in alt, falt, laut, &c.

Licht, n., ‘light, luminary, candle,’ from MidHG. licht, OHG. lioht, n., ‘light, lustre, brightness’; corresponding to OSax. lioht, Du. licht, AS. leóht, n., E. light. The dental of the word is a suffix, as is shown by Goth. liuh-aþ (gen. -adis), n., ‘light, sheen.’ OIc. ljós, n., ‘light,’ formed with a different suffix would be in Goth. *liuhs (gen. -sis); they are based on Aryan leukot-, leukt-, and