Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/227

---

MidHG. lattech, latech, lateche, OHG. lattuh (latohha), borrowed in the OHG. period from Lat. lactū̆ca through the intermediate forms lattū̆ca, láttuca; comp. AS. leahtric, ‘lactuca’ (comp. Attich from Lat. acte). — In Huflattich, ‘colt’s foot,’ Lattich represents Lat. lapatium (MidHG. huoflęteche, OHG. huoflętihha), or more correctly MidLat. lapatica (intermediate forms lápatica, láptica, lattica).

Latwerge, ‘electuary, confection,’ from the equiv. MidHG. latwërge, laiwêrje, latwârje, f.; the t as in Lattich represents ct (assimilated tt); lactuárium has a in the unaccented first syllable for e, as in Lafritze. This foreign term is based on the equiv. MidLat. electuarium, which sometimes in MidHG. preserves its prim. form, electuârje, lectquerje. The MidLat. word, which originated in Gr. ἐκλεικτόν, ἔκλειγμα, ‘medicine that dissolves in the mouth,’ belongs to the medical art of the Middle Ages, which was learned from the Greeks (comp. also Lafrige, Büchſe, Arzt, &c.), and was introduced into G. through a Rom. medium — Ital. lattovaro, Fr. électuaire (whence E. electuary).

Latz, m., ‘stomacher, bodice,’ first occurs in early ModHG. from Rom. (Fr. lacet, m., ‘lace, stay-lace,’ whence E. lace; Ital. laccio, ‘cord’; the prim. word is Lat. laqueus, ‘noose, snare’).

lau, adj., ‘lukewarm, tepid,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lâ (inflected lâwêr), OHG. lâo (inflected; probably for an earlier *hlâo (Goth. *hlêws); comp. OIc. hlýr, ‘warm, mild,’ Du. lauw. In the non-Teut. languages indubitable cognates are wanting, yet the Rom. cognates of flau (Fr. flou) are derived from OG.

Laub, n., ‘foliage,’ from the equiv. MidHG. loup(b), OHG. loub, m. and n.; a primitive and common Teut. term; comp. Goth. laufs (plur. laubôs), m., AS. leáf, n., E. leaf, Du. loof. Some connect the word with Lith. lápas, ‘leaf,’ which, however, compared with the diphthong of the Teut. word has an abnormal a (comp. Haupt with Lat. caput); Gr. λέπος, ‘scale, rind,’ is even less akin.

Laube, f., ‘arbour, bower,’ from MidHG. loube (löube), f., ‘porch, market, court of justice, gallery round the upper storey of a house,’ OHG. louba (louppea), f., ‘penthouse, hall, front building’ (the mutated läube is met with in MidG. dials.; comp. LG. löve). The OIc. lopt, ‘upper storey, balcony’ (whence E. loft), is probably con-

nected with this word. The ModHG. meaning, ‘arbour,’ wanting in MidHG. and OHG., is due to the term being popularly connected with Laub. The OHG. word passed in the form of MidLat. into Rom. (Ital. loggia, Fr. loge, ‘hut, tent, tier of boxes’).

Lauch, m., ‘leek, garlic,’ from. the equiv. MidHG. louch, OHG. louh(hh), m.; comp. the corresponding OIc. laukr, Du. look, AS. leác, E. leek, with which lic in garlic is connected; a primitive and common Teut. word, which was adopted in Finn. as laukka and in OSlov. as lukŭ. Like most of the old names of plants and animals, it is of obscure origin. Gr. λύγος, ‘a pliant rod or twig for wicker-work, willow-like tree,’ cannot be allied on account of its meaning. Perhaps OIr. luss, ‘herb, plant’ (from *luksu-), is a cognate.

Lauer, m., ‘tart wine.’ “It is derived from Lat. lôra, which denotes the tart wine that is made from the skins and stones of grapes by pouring water on them” (Lessing). Even in OHG. lûra, MidHG. lûre, f. (OHG. lûrra, MidHG. liure, from the prim. form *lôrea, appears in the equiv. Suab. leier; to this Swiss glöri from OHG. glûrra is allied?). As to the period of the introduction of Italian vine-culture into Germany, comp. Wein, Winzer, Keller, Kelch, and Most. Lat. lôrea is also indicated by Ital. loja, ‘dirt.’

lauern, vb., ‘to lie in wait,’ from the equiv. late MidHG. lûren, wk. vb.; it corresponds to Scand. lúra, ‘to slumber,’ MidE. lûren, E. to lower, lour. Comp. further MidE. lurken (for lûr ken), E. to lurk, which seems the prim. meaning of the G. and Scand. word. “To the G. term is traced Fr. lorgner, ‘to leer, ogle,’ from which the foreign words Fr. lorgnon, lorgnette, were introduced into G.”

Läufel, Lauft, ‘shell’ (espec. nutshell), a Hess. and Franc. word, corresponding to OHG. louft, ‘nutshell, bark of trees.’ Prim. cognate with Lith. lupinai, ‘peel, skins of fruit’ (lùpti, ‘to skin, peel’), Pol. lupina, ‘husk,’

laufen, vb., ‘to run,’ from the equiv. MidHG. loufen, OHG. louffun, str. vb.; from an earlier hlauffan, equiv. to Goth. hlaupan, ‘to run.’ It corresponds to AS. hleápan, str. vb., ‘to run, leap, dance,’ E. to leap, Du. loopen, OIc. hlaupa; a specifically Teut. word common to all the dialects. For the prim. meaning we have absolutely