L - Etymology, Origin & Meaning (2025)

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L

twelfth letter, Roman form of Greek lambda, which is from the Semitic lamed. The shape of the Roman letter is an early one in Greek, adopted in Italic before it was superseded in Greek by the inverted form which became the Greek lambda. In some words (ladder, lady, laughter, leap, listen, lid) it represents Old English hl-. As "building or extension in the shape of an L" from 1843. As an "alphabetic abbreviation" [OED] of elevated railway, from 1881 (compare el). The Three Ls in nautical navigation were "lead" (for sounding), "latitude" and "lookout."

Entries linking to L

el(n.)

American English abbreviation of elevated railroad, first recorded 1906 in O. Henry. See L.

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Trends of L

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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Lambert

masc. proper name, from French, from German Lambert, from Old High German Lambreht, from lant "land" (see land (n.)) + beraht "bright" (from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white."). Old English cognate was Landbeorht. The English popularity of the name 12c. and after probab

fifty

"1 more than forty-nine, twice twenty-five; the number which is one more than forty-nine; a symbol representing this number;" Old English fiftig "fifty; a set of fifty," from fif "five" (from PIE root *penkwe- "five") + -tig "group of ten" (see -ty (1)). Compare Old Frisian fifti

laurel

tree" (12c.), from Latin laurus "laurel tree," which is probably related to Greek daphne "laurel" (for change of d- to l-...The second -r- changed to -l- in late Middle English by dissimilation....

solder

The disappearance of Latin -l- in that position in Old French is regular, as poudre from pulverem, cou from collum, chaud...The -l- typically is sounded in British English but not in American, according to OED, but Fowler wrote that solder without...the "l" was "The only pronunciation I have ever heard, except from the half-educated to whom spelling is a final court of...

lutose

covered with clay," from Latin lutosus, from lutum "mud, dirt, mire, clay," from Proto-Italic *luto-, *lustro-, from PIE *l(...h)u-to- "dirt," *l(h)u-(s)tro- "dirty place," from root *leu- "dirt; make dirty" (cognates: Greek lythron "gore, clotted...

lachrymose

The -d- to -l- alteration in Latin is the so-called "Sabine -L-"; compare Latin olere "smell," from root of odor, and Ulixes...

lad

c. 1300, ladde "foot soldier," also "young male servant" (attested as a surname from late 12c.), possibly from a Scandinavian language (compare Norwegian -ladd, in compounds for "young man"), but of obscure origin in any case. OED hazards a guess on Middle English ladde, plural o

ladder

Old English hlæder "ladder, steps," from Proto-Germanic *hlaidri (source also of Old Frisian hledere, Middle Dutch ledere, Old High German leitara, German Leiter), from suffixed form of PIE root *klei- "to lean" (source also of Greek klimax "ladder"). In late Old English, rungs w

lady

c. 1200, lafdi, lavede, from Old English hlæfdige (Northumbrian hlafdia, Mercian hlafdie), "mistress of a household, wife of a lord," apparently literally "one who kneads bread," from hlaf "bread" (see loaf (n.)) + -dige "maid," which is related to dæge "maker of dough" (which is

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Dictionary entries near L

kymatology
Kyoto
kyphosis
Kyrgyz
Kyrie eleison
L
L.A.
l.s.d.
la
La Tene
lab

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