An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/leck
leck, adj., ‘leaky,’ ModHG. only, a LG. form for an earlier and strictly HG. lech, for, according to the words quoted under lechzen, the Goth. root is lik (hlik?), and this adj. corresponds to the OIc. adj. lekr, ‘leaky,’ whose k would be represented in HG. by ch. The borrowing of the ModHG. word from LG. is explained by the fact that a great number of nautical expressions in ModHG. are of LG. origin; the HG. form lech is also found in the dials. MidHG. lęcken, vb., ‘to moisten’ (lęcke, f., ‘moistening’), has ck for earlier kj, as is shown by AS. lęččean, ‘to moisten’ (from lakjan). Both vbs. prove that ‘to be watery’ is the prim. meaning of the Teut. stem lek (by gradation lak). ModHG. lecken, ‘to leak,’ is no more connected with MidHG. lęcken, ‘to moisten,’ than it is with ModHG. lecken, ‘to lick’; it is a derivative of the adj. leck, and hence has the variant lechen.