"L" Word Origins

lawrence

Origin

See Laurence.

lawrie

Origin

From Lawrence + -ie.

Lawson

Origin

As a Scottish/English surname, literally "son of Lawrence"; in some Scandinavian-American families it is an anglicized form of Larsen or Larsson.

lawsone

Origin

From Lawsonia, (Lawsonia inermis).

lawsuit

Origin

A compound of "law" and "suit."

Lawton

Middle English

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English [Term?], from hlāw (“hill, ound”) + tūn (“homestead”) (-ton).

lawyer

Middle English

From Middle English lawiere — "law" plus the agent suffix "-yer."

lax

Latin

From Latin laxus, "loose, slack" — the same root that gives us "relax" and "laxative."

laxation

Origin

From Latin laxātiō, from laxō (“to loosen”), from laxus (“loose, slack”).

laxative

Latin

From Latin laxātīvus, "loosening" — from laxus, "loose."

lay

Old English

From Old English leċġan, "to lay" — the causative form of "lie" (to make something lie down), from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną.

layaway

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb "lay away," meaning to set something aside.

layer

Origin

From "lay" plus the agent suffix "-er" — originally someone who laid bricks or stones.

Layla

Arabic

One of many alternative spellings of a name transliterated from Arabic; see Leila for more information. Since the late 20th century, in English, this given name in this spelling is sometimes bestowed solely because it is considered euphonious, a theme true of many given names; Wikipedia at given name § Popularity discusses name choice motivations.

layland

Origin

From lay (“meadow”) + land.

layman

Middle English

From Middle English lay man — "lay" (non-clergy) plus "man."

Layne

Origin

Topographic surname from lane.

layout

Origin

A deverbal noun from the phrasal verb "lay out."

layover

Origin

From "lay" plus "over."

layperson

Origin

A lay (“non-clergy, nonclergy”) + person, along the lines of layman.

Layton

Origin

* (perseonal names): Derived from various place names in England.

Laz

Turkish

From Turkish Laz, ultimately from the Laz people's own name for themselves, ლაზი (lazi).

lazar

Medieval Latin

From the Biblical name Lazarus (the beggar covered in sores in the Gospel of Luke), via Old French lazare and Medieval Latin lazarus, "leper."

lazaret

Origin

Borrowed from French lazaret, from Italian lazzareto (archaic), lazzaretto, lazzeretto; see further at lazaretto. Doublet of lazaretto.

lazaretto

Origin

Borrowed from Italian lazzareto (archaic), lazzaretto, lazzeretto, from lazzaro (“leper”) + -etto (diminutive or meliorative suffix). Lazzaro is derived from Medieval Latin lazarus (“leper”), from Lazarus, from Ancient Greek Λᾱ́ζᾱρος (Lā́zāros), from Hebrew אֶלְעָזָר ('el'azár, literally “God has helped”), from אֵל ('él, “God; a deity, god”) + עָזַר ('azár, “to assist, help”). Lazarus is a Biblical character mentioned in the parable of Jesus known as “The rich man and Lazarus” who is described as being a beggar covered in sores: see Luke 16:20–21. Doublet of lazar and lazaret. The plural form lazaretti is borrowed from Italian lazzaretti, lazzeretti.

lazarist

Origin

From French lazariste, from Lazare + -iste (“-ist”), from the order's first large headquarters, the Enclos Saint-Lazare (“St Lazarus Enclosure”) in Paris, derived from its former use as a Hospitaller leprosarium.

Lazarus

Hebrew

From the Koine Greek Lāzaros, from Hebrew Elʻazar, meaning "God has helped."

laze

Origin

Back-formation from lazy.

laziness

Origin

From "lazy" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ness."

Lazlo

Origin

Borrowed from Hungarian László. Doublet of Vladislav.

lazy

German · 1500

Attested since the 1500s; probably from Low German lasich, "slack, feeble," though the exact origin is debated.

lazybones

Origin

From "lazy" plus "bones."

lb

Latin

From Latin libra, the Roman unit of weight, whose abbreviation survived even though the English word became "pound."

LBM

English

An initialism of lean body mass.

lbs

Latin

From libra, the Roman unit of weight and the word for a balance or pair of scales. The s was added in English to mark the plural, which is why the abbreviation has no letters in common with pound.

LDR

English

An initialism of "long-distance relationship".

LDS

English

An initialism of Latter-day Saints.

le

French

Borrowed from French le ("the"), popularised in English partly through the internet meme phrase "le sigh."

lea

Old English

From Old English lēah, "clearing in a forest."

leach

Old English

From Old English leċċan, related to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to leak."

lead

Old English

The metal sense comes from Old English lēad. The verb "to lead" (guide) is a separate, unrelated word from the same Old English root as "load."

leaden

Origin

From Middle English leden, leaden, from Old English lēaden (“leaden, of lead”). Cognate with West Frisian leaden (“leaden”), Dutch loden (“leaden”). By surface analysis, lead + -en.

leader

Old English

From Old English lǣdere, "leader" — from the same root as "lead" (to guide) plus the agent suffix "-er."

leadership

Old English

From leader plus the suffix -ship, itself going back to Old English roots meaning "state" or "condition."

leading

Origin

From lead (the verb, "to guide") plus -ing; the typography sense comes from the old practice of inserting thin strips of lead between lines of metal type.

leaf

Old English

From Old English lēaf, an ancient Germanic word for the green parts of a plant, related to German Laub ("foliage").

leaflet

Origin

From leaf plus the diminutive suffix -let, meaning "a small leaf."

leafy

Origin

From leaf plus the adjective-forming suffix -y.