"L" Word Origins

lethargy

Greek

From Greek lethargia, "drowsiness," from lethargos, "forgetful, drowsy."

lethe

Origin

From Latin Lēthē, from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē).

Letitia

Latin

From Latin laetitia, "gladness".

Leto

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Λητώ (Lētṓ).

letter

Latin

From Old French lettre, from Latin littera, meaning both "letter of the alphabet" and, in the plural, "written message."

letterbox

Origin

A straightforward compound of "letter" and "box."

letterhead

Origin

A compound of "letter" and "head" (in the sense of the top part of a page).

lettering

Origin

From "letter" plus the suffix "-ing," used here in the sense of "the product of an action."

letterman

Old English

Etymology tree English letter Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man Middle English -man English -man English letterman From letter + -man.

lettice

Origin

A medieval vernacular form of Letitia.

Lettie

Origin

From Letitia + -ie.

lettuce

Latin

From Old French laitues (plural of laitue), from Latin lactuca, from lac, "milk" — a reference to the milky sap in the plant's stem.

Letty

Origin

Etymology tree English Letitia English -y English Letty From Letitia + -y.

letup

Origin

Deverbal from let up.

leu

Origin

Borrowed from Romanian leu (“lion”), from Latin leō (“lion”). Doublet of Leo, lev, lion, and Lyon.

leukemia

German

From German Leukämie, built from Greek leukos, "white," and haima, "blood" — referring to the excess white blood cells seen in the disease.

Leung

Cantonese

Borrowed from Cantonese 梁 (loeng⁴).

lev

Origin

From Bulgarian lev, "lion" — the currency was named after the animal, as with several other national currencies.

levant

Origin

Borrowed from French levant (“rising, sun's point of rising”), form of lever (“to rise”), from Latin levō (“to rise”) (cf. also the present participle levāns), from levis (“light, not heavy”).

levee

French

From French levee, "raised (thing)," from lever, "to raise."

leveful

Origin

From Middle English leveful, equivalent to leave (“permission”) + -ful.

level

Latin

From Old French livel/nivel, from Latin libella, "a small balance or level tool," a diminutive of libra, "a balance, a pair of scales."

lever

Latin

From Old French levier, "a lifter," from Latin levare, "to raise."

leverage

Origin

From "lever" plus the suffix "-age"; the financial and figurative senses came later, extending the physical idea of a lever multiplying force.

Levi

Hebrew

From Biblical Hebrew לֵוִי (lēwî), of uncertain origin.

leviathan

Hebrew · 1651

From Hebrew livyathan, a sea monster mentioned in the Bible; philosopher Thomas Hobbes later used "Leviathan" as the title of his 1651 book about the all-powerful state.

levin

Middle English

From Middle English levene, of uncertain deeper origin, possibly going back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "bright, to shine."

Levine

Hebrew

From Russian Левин (Levin), ultimately from Biblical Hebrew לֵוִי ("Levi").

Levinson

Origin

From Levin + -son.

levitate

New Latin · 1600

Coined in the 1600s from New Latin levitare, modeled on "gravitate," ultimately from Latin levis ("light").

levitating

Latin

From Latin levis, meaning "light" (in weight), with the verb formed on the pattern of gravitate.

levitation

Origin

From levitate + -ion, echoing the pattern of "gravitation."

Leviticus

Ancient Greek

From Latin Liber Lēvīticus, from Ancient Greek "of the Levites".

levity

Latin · 1500

Coined in the 1500s from Latin levitas ("lightness"), from levis ("light in weight") — related to "lever" and, more distantly, "light."

levulose

Origin

Blend of Latin laevus + -ule + -ose. By surface analysis, lev(us) + -ule + -ose.

levy

Latin

From Old French levee, from lever ("to raise"), from Latin levare ("to raise, lift").

Lew

French

From corruption of French louis, from Louis, presumably Louis IX or Louis XI, who issued gold écus.

lewd

Old English

From Old English laewede ("unlearned, lay, not a member of the clergy"). The word originally just meant "uneducated" or "common," and drifted over centuries toward its modern sense of crude and sexually indecent.

lewdity

Origin

From lewd + -ity.

lewdness

Origin

From Middle English lewednesse, equivalent to lewd + -ness.

Lewicki

Polish

Borrowed from Polish Lewicki.

Lewis

Old French

As a surname and given name, from Old French Louis, ultimately from the Frankish name meaning roughly "famous warrior."

lewy

Origin

Diminutives: Lewis + -y

lex

Latin

Latin lex, meaning "law." The computing sense comes from "lexical analysis," shortened to "lex."

Lexa

Origin

A short form of Alexa or Alexandra.

lexeme

Origin

From Latin lexis, from Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “word”) + -eme, a suffix indicating a fundamental unit in some aspect of linguistic structure, on the model of phoneme.

lexical

Origin

From Latin lexis, from Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “word”) + -al.

lexicology

Origin

From Ancient Greek λεξικός (lexikós, “of words”), from λέξις (léxis, “a saying, speech, word”), from λέγειν (légein, “to speak”). By surface analysis, lexico- + -logy.