"L" Word Origins

loading

Origin

From load + the suffix -ing.

loaf

Old English

From Old English hlāf ("bread"), the same root that gave us "lord" (originally "loaf-keeper") and "lady" ("loaf-kneader").

loafer

German

Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (compare dialectal German loofen (“to run”), and English landlouper); or more likely connected to Middle English love, loove, loffinge, looffinge (“a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers”), from Old English lāf (“remainder, residue, what is left”) (more at lave), which is akin to Scots lave (“the rest, remainder”), Old English lǣfan (“to let remain, leave behind”) (more at leave).

loam

Origin

From Middle English lom, lome, from Old English lām (“clay, mud, mire, earth”), from Proto-West Germanic *laim, from Proto-Germanic *laimaz, *laimô (“clay”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leem (“loam”), West Frisian liem (“loam”), Dutch leem (“loam”), German Lehm (“loam”). Related also to lime.

loan

Old Norse

From Old Norse lán, related to the verb "to leave (over)" — the same root family as "lend".

loaner

Origin

Formed from loan + the agent suffix -er.

loaning

Origin

From loanin, an alternative spelling of the Northern English noun lonnen + -ing.

loanword

Origin

A calque of German Lehnwort, equivalent to loan + word. Compare West Frisian lienwurd, Dutch leenwoord, Danish låneord, Swedish lånord, Icelandic lánsorð.

loath

Old English

From Old English lāð ("hateful, hostile"), an ancestor shared with "loathe" and "loathsome".

loathe

Old English

From Old English lāþian, related to "loath" — both trace back to a root meaning "hateful" or "hostile".

loathing

Origin

From the verb loathe. Compare loathsome.

loathsome

Origin

Formed from loath + the suffix -some ("tending to cause"), so literally "tending to cause hatred/disgust".

loathsomeness

Origin

From Middle English lothsomnesse, loþsumnes, lathsumnes; equivalent to loathsome + -ness.

lob

Origin

First attested late 16th c. in the sense "allow or cause to dangle, hang," from sense 2.

lobate

Origin

From Latin lobātus, equivalent to lobe + -ate.

lobby

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin lobia, "a covered walkway or gallery" — the political sense grew from people gathering in the entrance hall of a legislature to buttonhole lawmakers.

lobbyist

Origin

Formed from lobby + -ist, following the pattern of "activist" or "novelist".

lobe

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek lobós, meaning the soft lobe of the ear or liver, or a seed pod.

lobo

Latin

Borrowed directly from Spanish lobo, "wolf", from Latin lupus.

lobotomy

Origin

From lobe + -otomy, a suffix meaning "a cutting into", as in "tonsillotomy".

lobster

Latin

From Old English loppestre, possibly a corruption of Latin locusta ("grasshopper" or a shrimp-like crustacean).

loc

Origin

A clipped form of "dreadlock".

local

Late Latin

From Late Latin locālis, "belonging to a place", ultimately from Latin locus, "a place".

locale

French

Borrowed from French, from the adjective local used as a noun.

locality

Latin

From French localité, ultimately from Latin locus, "place".

localization

Origin

From localize + -ation; compare French localisation.

localize

Origin

From local + -ize. Compare French localiser.

locant

Origin

By surface analysis, loc(us) + -ant

locate

Latin

From Latin locātus, "placed", from locō, "to place", from locus, "place".

locater

Origin

From locate + -er.

location

Latin

From Latin locatio, "a placing", from locare, "to place".

locational

Origin

From location + -al.

locative

Origin

From Latin locātīvus, from locus. In Indian English, by surface analysis, locate + -ive.

locator

Latin

From Latin locātor, "one who places", from locare.

loch

Scottish Gaelic

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic loch, related to English "lake".

lochlan

Origin

Variant of Lachlan.

lock

Old English

From Old English loc, "a fastening or enclosure", from a root meaning "to bend or turn".

lockbox

Origin

A compound of lock + box.

lockdown

Origin

A noun formed from the phrasal verb "lock down".

Locke

Old Norse

* As an English, Dutch and German surname, variant of Lock. * As a Norwegian surname, Americanized from Løkke, from a farm name derived from Old Norse lykkja (“enclosure”). * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lok.

locked

Origin

* (drunk): Perhaps from airlocked.

locker

Origin

Formed from lock + the suffix -er.

locket

French

From French loquet, a diminutive related to Old English loc, "lock".

lockett

Origin

From Middle English [Term?], a diminutive of the given name Luke.

lockie

Origin

Diminutive: Lachlan + -ie

lockitt

Origin

From Middle English [Term?], a diminutive of the given name Luke.

lockjaw

Origin

A compound of lock + jaw, describing how the jaw muscles seize up.

lockman

Origin

From lock + man.