"L" Word Origins

lustful

Old English

From Old English lustfull ("desirous"), from lust + -ful.

lustlessness

Origin

From lustless + -ness.

lustmaking

Origin

Blend of lust + making, modelled on lovemaking.

lustrate

Origin

From Latin lustrātus (“lustrated”), perfect passive participle of lustrō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from lustrum (“ritual purification”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), q.v. In reference to imparting luster, further via senses of Middle French lustre, from Old Italian lustro.

lustre

Origin

From Middle French lustre. See luster (etymology 1).

lustrious

Origin

From lustre + -ious, modelled after illustrious.

lustuous

Origin

From lust + -uous.

lusty

Middle English

From Middle English lusty ("pleasant, delightful"), from lust + -y; the meaning shifted over time from "pleasurable" to "vigorous and hearty."

lute

Old French

From Old French leüt, probably from Arabic al-ʿūd ("the wood"), by way of Old Occitan — the same root gives us the modern word "oud."

lutetia

Origin

Borrowed from Latin Lutetia.

lutetium

Origin

From Latin Lutetia (“Paris, the capital of France”) + -ium.

Luther

German

From German Luther, most famously associated with the reformer Martin Luther.

Lutheran

German · 1483

From the surname of the German theologian Martin Luther (1483-1546) + the suffix -an; Luther itself comes from an Old High German name meaning roughly "army of the people."

luthier

Origin

Borrowed from French luthier, from luth (“lute”).

Luthor

Origin

A variant of Luther.

lutruwita

Origin

From the palawa kani language.

lutz

Origin · 1910

Named after the Austrian skater Alois Lutz, credited with inventing the jump in the early 1910s.

luvvy

Origin

From a phonetic spelling of love + -y; in the second sense, because this (as a term for darling or sweetheart) is perceived as a common utterance of thespians.

lux

Latin

From Latin lux, "light" — the same root that gives English words like "lucid" and "translucent".

luxe

French

From French luxe, meaning "luxury", from Latin luxus "extravagance, excess".

Luxembourg

German

From Middle High German Luccelemburc, ultimately from Old High German elements meaning "little castle."

Luxor

Arabic

From Arabic al-Uqṣur, meaning roughly "the palaces" or "the fortifications."

luxuriant

Origin

Borrowed from Latin lūxuriāns, present participle of lūxuriō, itself from lūxuria (“luxury, excess”). Equivalent to luxury + -ant.

luxuriate

Origin

First attested in 1621; borrowed from Latin lūxuriātus, perfect passive participle of lūxuriō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

luxurious

Latin

From Old French luxurios, from Latin luxuriosus, "excessive, extravagant" — from luxuria, "luxury".

luxury

Latin

From Old French luxurie, from Latin luxuria, "abundance, extravagance" — from luxus, "excess".

luz

Hebrew

Borrowed from Hebrew luz, meaning "almond" — the bone was thought to be almond-shaped.

Lv

Origin

A modified pinyin romanization of 呂/吕 (Lǚ), using "v" as a keyboard substitute for the ü character.

Ly

Chinese

Borrowed from Vietnamese Lý, a cognate of the Chinese-derived surname Lee.

lycanthrope

Origin

From Latin lycanthrōpus, from Ancient Greek λυκάνθρωπος (lukánthrōpos) – a compound of λύκος (lúkos, “wolf”) + ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos, “man, human”). By surface analysis, lyc- + -anthrope.

lycanthropy

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek λῠκᾰνθρωπῐ́ᾱ (lŭkănthrōpĭ́ā), from λῠκᾰ́νθρωπος (lŭkắnthrōpos, “wolfman”). By surface analysis, lycanthrope + -y (abstract noun suffix).

lyceum

Origin

From Latin Lyceum, from Ancient Greek Λύκειον (Lúkeion) (the name of a gymnasium, or athletic training facility, near Athens where Aristotle established his school), from Λύκειος, from Proto-Greek *λύκη), "light." The meaning of the epithet "Lyceus" later became associated with Apollo's mother Leto, who was the patron goddess of Lycia (Λυκία) and who was identified with the wolf (λύκος). Doublet of lycée and Lyceum.

Lycra

Origin

Originally a trademarked brand name coined by DuPont for its stretch fibre, now used generically.

Lydia

Ancient Greek

From Ancient Greek Λυδία (Ludía), referring to the region of Lydia; the given name originally marked someone from that region.

lye

Old English

From Old English leah/leag, ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to wash".

lying

Origin

From "lie" plus the suffix "-ing" — note that English has two unrelated verbs "to lie" (rest horizontally) and "to lie" (tell an untruth), both of which form "lying".

Lyla

Arabic

A spelling variant of Leila, itself of Arabic origin meaning "night."

Lyle

Old French

From a Scottish surname derived from Old French l'isle, meaning "the island."

Lyman

Origin

From Ukrainian Лима́н (Lymán).

Lyme

Origin · 1970

The disease is named after Lyme, Connecticut, where it was first identified in the 1970s; the town names themselves trace back to Lyme Regis in Dorset, England.

lymph

Ancient Greek

From Latin lympha, "clear water", from Ancient Greek nymphe — the same root that gives us "nymph".

lymphad

Origin

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic long-fhada (“galley”, literally “long ship”).

lymphoma

Origin

From "lymph" plus the medical suffix "-oma", meaning tumour or abnormal growth.

lynch

Origin · 1800

Believed to come from "Lynch law", a term for extrajudicial punishment first recorded in the early 1800s in the United States, possibly linked to the surname Lynch.

lynching

Origin

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

Lynda

Germanic

A variant spelling of Linda, from the Germanic languages.

Lyndsey

Origin

A spelling variant of Lindsay/Lindsey.

lyne

Origin

As an English surname, spelling variant of Lind and Line; as an Irish surname, spelling variant of Lane.