lich
English
editEtymology 1
editFrom Middle English lich, from Old English līċ, from Proto-West Germanic *līk, from Proto-Germanic *līką, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg-.
Cognate with Dutch lijk, German Leiche, Norwegian lik, Swedish lik, Danish lig.
Alternative forms
editPronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /lɪtʃ/
- (West Country, possibly obsolete) IPA(key): /litʃ/[1]
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɪtʃ
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /laɪx/
Noun
editlich (plural liches or (with Scots pronunciation) lichs)
- (archaic, UK) A corpse or dead body. [from 9th c.]
- 1845, Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, page 35:
- […] and that, as the chronicle states, a lich-way would be made through then, assembled his servants, and attempted to stop its progress as it was carried over a bridge. A scuffle ensued, and the body was thrown into the water. The lich-way as not made ; but the Bishop of Exeter amply revenged himself for the proceedings.
- 1983, Poul Anderson, Time Patrolman (Sci-Fi), →ISBN:
- She saw him again that eventide, but then he was a reddened lich.
- (fantasy, roleplaying games) A reanimated corpse or undead being; particularly an intelligent, undead spellcaster.
- 1974, Karl Edward Wagner, Sticks:
- It was a lich’s face – desiccated flesh tight over its skull.
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Ellipsis of lichfield.
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Ellipsis of lichgate.
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) Ellipsis of lichway.
Derived terms
editTranslations
editundead being
References
edit- ^ Joseph Wright, editor (1902), “LICH”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume III (H–L), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC.
Etymology 2
editFrom Middle English līke, līch (“like”); see like and -like for more. Compare -ly and -lich.
Adjective
editlich (comparative more lich, superlative most lich)
- (obsolete) Like; resembling; equal.
- 1386-90, John Gower, Confessio Amantis.
- Anon he let two cofres make / Of one semblance, and of one make, / So lich, that no lif thilke throwe, / That one may fro that other knowe.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 29:
- [He] rather joy'd to be than seemen sich, For both to be and seeme to him was labour lich.
- 1386-90, John Gower, Confessio Amantis.
Middle English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old English līċ, from Proto-West Germanic *līk, from Proto-Germanic *līką, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“alike, similar”).
Noun
editlich (plural lichs)
- A body.
- 1362, William Langland, Piers Plowman, XI.2:
- A wyf […] Þat lene was of lich and of louh chere.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Descendants
editPolish
editPronunciation
editNoun
editlich f
Noun
editlich n
Further reading
edit- lich in Polish dictionaries at PWN
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leyg- (like)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
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- Rhymes:English/ɪtʃ
- Rhymes:English/ɪtʃ/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
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- British English
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- en:Fantasy
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- en:Fictional characters
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Middle English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leyg- (like)
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic
- Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Middle English terms with quotations
- Polish 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:Polish/ix
- Rhymes:Polish/ix/1 syllable
- Polish non-lemma forms
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