An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Leiche

by Friedrich Kluge

Leiche, feminine, ‘corpse,’ from Middle High German lîch, lîche, feminine, ‘body, substance,’ also ‘dead body, corpse’; in Modern High German the specialised meaning, which in the earlier Teutonic dialects was subordinate to the more general sense ‘body’ as substance, has now become the prevalent one. Old High German lîh (hh), feminine and neuter, ‘body, flesh,’ Anglo-Saxon lîc, neuter, ‘body, substance, corpse’ (for English like compare gleich); Gothic leik, neuter, ‘flesh, body, corpse.’ In a possessive compound lîk assumed even in the Old Teutonic period the definite meaning ‘body,’ but was modified afterwards in numerous dialects to a suffix equivalent to High German -lich (which see). The signification ‘body’ has been retained in Modern High German Leihdorn, ‘corn,’ literally ‘thorn in the body’ (Icelandic líkþorn). —