Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/240

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MidG. word for UpG. Lefze; Comp. OSax. *lippa, Du. lip, AS. lippa, E. lip; in Goth. we have perhaps to assume *lipiô, f. According to OSax. lëpur the Teut. root is lep, and this, following the permutation of consonants, is based on leb. The correspondence with Lat. labium is generally accepted; but when this is connected with lambere, ‘to lick,’ difficulties are presented, especially by the meaning. To represent the lip as ‘that which licks’ is not satisfactory. In Teut. a vb. (OHG. laffan, pret. luof) corresponding to Lat. lambere has been retained, and the rules of gradation show that HG. Lippe cannot be allied to this; Lippe is connected rather with a Goth. vb. *lipan, not *lapan (OHG. laffan). Lat. labium was derived perhaps from *lebium (Goth. *lipjô) and connected with lambere; to this ModPers. lab, ‘lip,’ is allied. The LG. word passed through Du. into Fr. lippe, f., ‘blobber lip.’

lispeln, vb., ‘to lisp,’ with a diminutive or frequentative suffix from MidHG. and OHG. lispen, vb., ‘to stammer’; never ‘to speak through the lips’ as a derivative of Lefze (see Lippe); it rather represents wlispen (thus in Lower Rhen. in the 15th cent., also by transposition, wilspen?). Comp. AS. wlisp, wlips, OHG. lisp, ‘stammering’; E. to lisp, Du. lispen.

List, f., ‘craft, cunning, deceit,’ from MidHG. and OHG. list, m. (f. in MidG. and OHG.), ‘wisdom, prudence, slyness, sly purpose, cunning, art.’ Goth. lists is by chance not recorded with the ModHG. sense only. The meaning ‘prudence’ is the orig. one; AS. list, f., ‘art, propriety, cunning,’ E. list; OIc. list, f., ‘prudence, skill in an art, propriety.’ Thus the signification of the word fluctuates in several dials. between the prim. meaning ‘prudence’ and ‘cunning.’ The subst., as an old abstract in ti (Goth. listi-ns, acc. plur.), belongs by its structure to the Goth. pret. pres. lais, ‘I know’; the verbal stem lis, with the orig. sense ‘to know,’ is still widely diffused in HG., comp. lehren and lernen. Moreover, on the common Teut. listi- are based the Slav. cognates of OSlov. lĭstĭ and the Rom. class comprising Fr. leste and Ital. lesto, ‘skilful, nimble.’

Liste, f., ‘list, roll’ ModHG. only, from Fr. liste, Ital. lista, which are again derived from HG. Leiste (MidHG. lîste).

Litze, f., ‘twisted lace, bobbin,’ from MidHG. litze, f., ‘twisted lace, cord as a

barrier’; from Lat. lîcium, n., ‘thread.’ The change made in the quantity when the word was borrowed in MidHG. as lĭtze is analogous to that in Lilie and Linie. From the Lat. lîcium (whence Fr. lice, ‘lists, arena’) are also derived Zwillich and Drillich, which see.

Lob, n., ‘praise,’ from MidHG. lop (b), OHG. lob, n. and m., ‘praise, reward, glorification’; corresponding to Du. lof, AS. lof, m., ‘praise, fame’; OIc. lof. n., ‘fame, reward, praise, laudatory poem,’ also ‘permission,’ points to the similarity of the roots of loben and erlauben (comp. MidHG. urloup and urlop, ‘permission’). The old gradation lub-liub-laub comprises ModHG. Lob, lieb, glauben, and erlauben; in AS., lufu (equiv. to E. love) is the weakest form of the root with the meaning corresponding to HG. lieb (Goth. liufs), Under lieb the prim. sense of the Aryan root leubh (Sans. lubh, Lat. lubet, lubido) is assumed to be ‘inclination’; in meaning, Lith. liaupsě, ‘hymn,’ láupsinti, ‘to extol,’ are the most closely allied. With regard to the gradation, it is also noteworthy that MidHG. and ModHG. loben, OHG. lobôn, lobên, vb., AS. lofian, vb., ‘to praise,’ are represented in OIc. by lofa, vb., ‘to praise, commend, permit,’ and that OIc. leyfa (from *laubjan) has also the same double sense. — ModHG. and MidHG. lobesam, adj., ‘laudable,’ OHG. lobosam, AS. lofsum; Goth. galufs, galaufs, ‘precious,’ lit. ‘having praise,’ so too OHG. glob, ‘precious.’

Loch, n., ‘hole, dungeon, haunt,’ from MidHG. loch, n., OHG. loh, gen. lohhes, n., ‘enclosed place, prison, lurking-place, cave, hole, opening.’ Comp. AS. loc, n., ‘enclosed place, lock’; loca, m., ‘enclosed place, prison’; from the former E. lock is derived. The various meanings all originate in ‘enclosed place’; comp. Goth. usluka-, ‘opening.’ The subst. is formed by gradation from an old Teut. vb. (obsolete in ModHG.), MidHG. lûchen, OHG. lûhhan, Goth. lûkan, AS. lûcan, ‘to lock,’ which may be compared (since the Pre-Teut. root is lū̆g) with Lith. lúżtu (lúżti), ‘to be broken,’ as well as with Sans. ruj, ‘to break.’

Locke, f., ‘lock, curl, tress,’ from the equiv. MidHG. loc (plur. locke), OHG. loc (plur. locchâ), m.; comp. AS. locc, E. lock, OIc. lokkr, Du. lok, ‘lock’ A common Teut. word for ‘lock’ (Goth. *lukks is by chance not recorded), and peculiar to the