Etymology — The origins of English words

lewdity

Origin

From lewd + -ity.

limeyland

Origin

From limey + -land.

marlee

Origin

Variant of Marley.

lithiophilite

Origin

From lithio- + -philite.

laggard

Origin

From lag + -ard.

lorn

Origin

From Middle English lorn, loren, ilorn, iloren (past participle of lese, lesen (“to lose, be deprived of; to damn, doom to perdition”)), from Old English *loren, *ġeloren, from Proto-Germanic *galuzanaz, *luzanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *leusaną (“to lose”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewH- (“to cut, sever; to separate; to loosen; to lose”). See further at lese.

laudation

Origin

Borrowed from Latin laudatio; compare Old English taudation. See laud.

ladylove

Origin

From lady + love.

materialise

Origin

From material + -ise; compare with French matérialiser.

lauretta

Origin

An Italian pet form of Laura; first introduced into English as the name of one of the narrators in the Decameron.

luthier

Origin

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

manqueller

Origin

From Middle English manquellere, equivalent to man + queller.

malinda

Origin

Variant of Melinda, used since the eighteenth century.

littoral

Origin

From Late Latin littoralis, from litoris (genitive of litus). The doubled 't' is a late medieval addition, and the more classical litoral is also sometimes found. Cognate to French littoral, Spanish litoral, Portuguese litoral, and more distantly to English lido (“outdoor pool”), via Italian lido (“beach, shore”).

lithiated

Origin

From lithium + -ated.

liquory

Origin

From liquor + -y.

luminescent

Origin

From stem of Latin lumen (“light”) + -escent, equivalent to luminesce + -ent.

mammer

Origin

From Middle English mameren (“to hesitate, be undecided, waver, mutter”), from Old English māmrian, māmorian (“to think through, deliberate, plan out, design”), from Proto-Germanic *maimrōną (“to take care, worry”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *smer- (“to fall into thought, remember, take care”). Related to Old English māmor (“deep thought, deep sleep, unconsciousness”), Old English mimorian (“to remember”), Dutch mijmeren (“to ponder, muse”). More at remember.

loth

Origin

From German Loth (obsolete), Lot, later also from Dutch lood, both specific usages of the word for ‘lead’. Doublet of lead.

lumper

Origin

From lump + -er.

lappet

Origin

From lap + -et.

londongrad

Origin

From London + Russian град (grad, “town”), after placenames such as Leningrad and Kaliningrad.

lenticular

Origin

Inherited from Middle English lenticular, lenticuler, borrowed from Medieval Latin lenticulāris (“lentil-shaped”), from Latin lenticula, from lēns + -cula, ultimately from Latin lēns (“lentil”).

kneading

Origin

From Middle English knedynge; equivalent to knead + -ing.