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learn’; corresponding to Du. leeren, AS. lœ̂ran (whence OIc. lœ̂ra is borrowed), Goth. laisjan, ‘to teach.’ A common Teut. vb. with the primit. meaning ‘to cause to know’; laisjan is the factitive of a pret. pres. lais, ‘I know,’ preserved in Goth. only. In G. and E. only a partic. derivative was retained, which was probably represented in Goth. by *lisnan or *liznan; comp. lernen. Allied also to Goth. leis, ‘knowing,’ leisei, ‘knowledge,’ in lubja-leis, -leisei, ‘skilled in poisons, witchcraft.’ We have data for assuming that Goth. lais, ‘I know,’ is based on a prim. meaning ‘I have experienced,’ for the stem lis of lehren and lernen appears also in Gleise and leisten in the old sense of ‘to go,’ with which Lat. lîra, ‘furrow,’ and its derivative delîrare (lit. ‘to slip away from’) are connected, as well as OSlov. lěcha, ‘ridge (of a furrow),’ mentioned under Gleise; comp. leisten. — Lehre, f., ‘teaching, doctrine,’ from MidHG. lêre, OHG. lêra, f.; comp. AS. lâr, f., whence E. lore. — gelehrt, gelahrt, part., ‘learned,’ even in MidHG. gelêrt and gelârt, with the ModHG. sense, prop. however, ‘one who is instructed’; comp. MidE. ilœred, Scand. lœ̂rþr (comp. doctus from docere). -lei, suffix, ModHG. simply; from MidHG. leie, f., ‘manner, method.’ In MidHG. there was no compound corresponding to ModHG. mancherlei, the expression maneger leie being used as a gen., e.g. maneger leie liute, ‘various sorts of people,’ equiv. to ModHG. mancherlei Leute. MidHG. leie, lei, is generally considered to be a Rom. word borrowed from OFr. and Prov. ley, ‘method’ (Span. and Port. laya, ‘manner,’ is said to be of Basque origin). Lei, Leie, m. and f., ‘rock, stone’ (in proper names like Lorelei), from MidHG. lei, leie, f., ‘rock, stone,’ also ‘paved way, schist,’ corresponding to OSax. leia, f. ‘rock.’ Further cognates, whether in the Teut. or non-Teut. languages, are uncertain (allied perhaps to Gr. λᾶας, ‘stone’?). It has been assumed that Ital. lavagna, ‘slate,’ was borrowed from the G. cognates. Leib, m., ‘body, waist,’ from MidHG. lîp (b), m., ‘life, body, substance’; the meaning ‘life’ has been preserved in ModHG. only in compounds such as Leibzucht, ‘sustenance,’ Leibrente, ‘life-annuity.’ OHG. lîb, m. and n., ‘life,’ AS. lîf, E. life; Goth. *leif (b) is wanting (‘life’ is rendered by faírhwus); Scand. líf, n., ‘body, life.’ The phonetic kinship with Leben may be repre- |
sented in Gr. by λίπ, λῖπ; just as Leben, following Gr. λιπαρεῖν, means lit. ‘to persist,’ so too OTeut. lîba- is lit. ‘persistence, continuance’; the meaning ‘body, substance,’ is simply G. Gr. λείπω cannot on account of Lat. linquo be connected with λιπαρέω; it is allied to Teut. leihen, while λιπαρέω with Leib and Leben are based on an Aryan root lī̆p in bleiben.
Leich, m., ‘lay,’ a term borrowed anew from MidHG. leich, m., ‘song consisting of unequal strophes,’ orig. in a general sense ‘instrumental melody’ (whence OFr. lai was borrowed). It corresponds to Goth. laiks, ‘dance,’ from laikan, ‘to dance,’ AS. lâc, n., ‘play, tilting,’ from lâcan, ‘to leap, dance.’ Since ModHG. Leich is only a loanword, no further remarks are necessary concerning the specifically OTeut. root laik and its wide ramifications. Leiche, f., ‘corpse,’ from MidHG. lîch, lîche, f., ‘body, substance,’ also ‘dead body, corpse’; in ModHG. the specialised meaning, which in the earlier Teut. dials. was subordinate to the more general sense ‘body’ as substance, has now become the prevalent one. OHG. lîh (hh), f. and n., ‘body, flesh,’ AS. lîc, n., ‘body, substance, corpse’ (for E. like comp. gleich); Goth. leik, n., ‘flesh, body, corpse.’ In a possessive compound lîk assumed even in the OTeut. period the definite meaning ‘body,’ but was modified afterwards in numerous dials. to a suffix equiv. to HG. -lich (which see). The signification ‘body’ has been retained in ModHG. Leihdorn, ‘corn,’ lit. ‘thorn in the body’ (Ic. líkþorn). — Leichnam, m., ‘dead body, corpse,’ from MidHG. lîchname, OHG. lîhhinamo, m., ‘body, substance, corpse’; OHG. lîhhinamo for *lihhin-hamo is based on a wk. form *lîkan-, *lîkin- (comp. Goth. manleika, ‘image’); at all events, OHG. lîhhin-amo is not a corruption of OTeut. lîkhamo, m., ‘body’; OHG. lîhhamo (by syncope lîhmo), MidHG. lîchame, m., AS. lîc-hǫma, OIc. líkamr (líkame), m., ‘body.’ The second component is an obsolete noun (ham, hamo), meaning ‘form, covering’; comp. OIc. hamr, ‘skin, shape,’ AS. homa, ‘covering’; Goth. anahamôn, gahamôn, ‘to put on (clothes), dress’ (comp. Hamen, hämisch, and Hemd). Therefore Leichnam probably signified orig. ‘body,’ lit. ‘covering or form of flesh,’ i.e. ‘body of flesh, in so far as it is endowed with life.’ The compound has a rather poetical air about it, and in fact |
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