"L" Word Origins

lockout

Origin

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

locks

Origin

Variant of Lock.

locksmith

Middle English

From Middle English loksmith, simply "lock" plus "smith" (a metalworker).

lockup

Origin

Deverbal from lock up.

Lockwood

Old English

From Old English loc ("lock; enclosure") + wudu ("wood").

loco

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish loco, "crazy" or "mad."

locoism

Origin

From loco + -ism.

locomotion

Origin

From French locomotion, from Latin locō (literally “from a place”) (ablative of locus (“place”)) + mōtiōnem (“motion, a moving”) (nominative mōtio), from Latin movēre (“move; change, exchange, go in or out, quit”), from Proto-Indo-European *m(y)ewh₁- (“to move, drive”).

locomotive

Latin · 1814

From French locomotif, built from Latin locō ("from a place") and a Latin-derived word for "moving." Originally a general adjective for anything self-propelling, it narrowed to mean the train engine specifically from around 1814.

locoregional

Origin

By surface analysis, loc(al) + -o- + region + -al.

locoweed

Origin

From Spanish loco (“mad, insane”) + weed.

locus

Latin

A learned borrowing of Latin locus, "place." A doublet of the English word "lieu."

locust

Latin

From Latin locusta ("locust; also lobster"), via Anglo-Norman and Middle English locuste. A doublet of "langouste." The tree sense arose because carob pods resemble the insect's body shape.

locution

Origin

Borrowed from Latin locūtiō, locūtiōnem (“speech”), from loquor (“speak”). Compare the French cognate locution.

lode

Old English

A doublet of "load" — both come from Old English lād, "way, course, journey." "Lode" kept its old sense as a mining term for a mineral vein, surviving mainly in words like "lodestone" and "lodestar."

Loder

Middle English

Two main origins: * Either an occupational surname for a carter, from an agent derivative of Middle English lode (“to load”), or a topographic surname from Middle English lode (“path, road, watercourse”). * Borrowed from German Loder, an occupational surname for a weaver of woolen cloth, from Loden (“coarse woolen fabric”).

lodestar

Origin

From Middle English lode (“journey, course”) + star, where lode is an archaic noun from the verb lithe (“to go, journey”), related to lead. Other Middle English spellings include: 14th century loode sterre, lood-sterre, lade-sterne; and 15th century lode sterre. Cognate with Old Norse leiðarstjarna, Dutch leidster, German Leitstern, Danish ledestjerne, Swedish ledstjärna.

lodge

Old French

From Old French loge ("an arbour, a covered walkway"), via Middle English logge. Ultimately related to Old High German louba ("porch, gallery"). A doublet of "loggia" and "lobby."

lodger

Origin

From "lodge" plus the agent suffix "-er."

lodging

Origin

From "lodge" plus the suffix "-ing."

lodgment

Origin

From Middle French logement, from loger (“to lodge”) + -ment.

Lodi

Italian

Borrowed from Italian Lodi.

Lodz

Polish

Anglicised form of Polish Łódź.

Loeb

German

From German Löb, a dialectal form of Löwe, meaning "lion."

loft

Old English

From Old English loft, related to Old Norse lopt ("upper chamber, attic, sky"), from a root meaning "air" or "sky." A doublet of "lift" and "aloft."

lofty

Middle English

From Middle English lofty, built from "loft" (originally "sky" or "upper room") plus the adjective suffix "-y."

log

Middle English

From Middle English logge, probably from an Old Norse word for a felled tree, related to "lie" (as in "lying on the ground").

logan

Origin

From a Scottish place name near Ayrshire, itself from Gaelic lagan, "little hollow."

logbook

Origin · 1670

A compound of "log" and "book," originally a record of a ship's speed and position, first recorded in the 1670s.

loge

Origin

From French loge (“arbor, covered walk-way”) from Frankish *laubijā (“shelter”). Akin to Old High German loub (“porch, gallery”) (German Laube (“bower, arbor”)), Old High German loub (“leaf, foliage”), Old English lēaf (“leaf, foliage”). Doublet of lobby, loggia, and lodge. More at lobby, loggia, leaf, lodge.

logger

Origin

From log + -er.

loggerhead

Origin

From logger (“(dialectal) heavy wooden block secured to a horse's leg to prevent it from straying”) + head. Logger was apparently coined because its sound connotes a clumsy, heavy object; compare log (“trunk of a dead tree; bulky piece of wood”).

loggia

Origin

Borrowed from Italian loggia, from Old French loge, from Medieval Latin laubĭa, from Frankish *laubijā. Doublet of lobby and lodge.

logic

Ancient Greek

From Old French and Latin logicus, ultimately from Ancient Greek logikós, related to logos ("reason, word").

logical

Origin

From "logic" plus the adjective suffix "-al."

login

Origin

A noun formed from the phrasal verb "log in."

logistic

Ancient Greek · 1845

From Ancient Greek logistikós ("skilled in calculating"), from logízomai ("I reason, I calculate"). The mathematical "logistic curve" sense was coined by Pierre François Verhulst in 1845.

logistics

French · 1830

From French logistique, coined around 1830 by Antoine-Henri Jomini from logis ("lodging"), originally referring to the organisation of troop quarters and supplies.

logo

Origin · 1937

A 1937 shortening of "logogram" or "logotype."

Logos

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek logos, "word, reason, account" — the same root that gives English "logic" and the "-logy" suffix.

logout

English

From the phrasal verb log out, itself from the practice of recording arrivals and departures in a log.

logy

Origin

Attested from the 19th century, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Dutch log (“heavy, dull”).

Lohan

Irish

An anglicized form of the Irish Ó Leocháin.

loin

Latin

From Old French loigne, ultimately from Latin lumbus ("loin"). A doublet of the rare English word "lend" (an old term for loin).

loincloth

Origin

A compound of "loin" and "cloth."

loiner

Origin

Possibly from Old English Leodis (“a Celtic kingdom”). Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary included an etymology from Marsh Lane in Leeds (volume 3, page 565). The word "lane" used to be pronounced /lɔɪn/ in the Leeds area, but this pronunciation has passed out of use.

Loire

Latin

From Latin Liger, borrowed from a Gaulish river name meaning roughly "silt" or "sediment" — the same root gives English the word "lees."

Lois

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Lōḯs, of uncertain meaning — not related to Louise or Louisa despite the similar sound.