læce
Old English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Proto-West Germanic *lākī, from Proto-Germanic *lēkijaz. Cognate with Old Frisian lētza, Old Saxon lāki, Old High German lāhhi, Old Norse *lækir, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌺𐌴𐌹𐍃 (lēkeis).
Noun edit
lǣċe m
- doctor (physician)
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- Hine man sċeal lǣdan tō þām lǣċe.
- He should be taken to the doctor.
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- (in compounds) medical
Declension edit
Coordinate terms edit
Derived terms edit
Descendants edit
Etymology 2 edit
Probably assimilated to Etymology 1 above, by popular etymology, though its use probably predated the term for a doctor.
Of uncertain ultimate origin, but possibly from a Germanic base meaning "to pluck, tear" (compare Old High German liochan (“to tear”)), evolving into "suck," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewǵ- (“to break, tear”), see also Ancient Greek λευγαλέος (leugaléos), λυγρός (lugrós), Sanskrit रुजति (rujati, “to break open, shatter, injure, cause pain”), Latvian lauzt (“to break, fracture”).[1]
Cognate with Middle Dutch lake, leke (modern Dutch laak).
Noun edit
lǣċe m
Declension edit
Descendants edit
References edit
- ^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “laak”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
- John R. Clark Hall (1960), “lǣce”, in A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, page 208