lyf

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch lijf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ləif/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lyf (plural lywe, diminutive lyfie)

1. body, corpse

Synonyms

• liggaam

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse lyf, from Proto-Germanic *lubją.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɪːv/

  Rhymes: -ɪːv

Noun

lyf n (genitive singular lyfs, nominative plural lyf)

1. (medicine) drug, medicine

Synonyms

• (drug): meðal n

Derived terms

• eiturlyf
• eiturlyfjasali
• lyfjasali

Middle English

Alternative forms

• leyfe, lif, life, lijf, live

Etymology

From Old English līf, from Proto-West Germanic *līb, from Proto-Germanic *lībą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːf/
• Rhymes: -iːf

Noun

lyf (plural lyves or lyven, dative lyve)

1. life
   • c. 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer, Parlement of Foulys:

     The lyf so short, the craft so long to lerne,

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.)‎^[1], published c. 1410, Joon 10:10, page 49v, column 1; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:

     a nyȝt þeef comeþ not .· but þat he ſteele ſle ⁊ leeſe / and I cam þat þey haue lijf .· ⁊ haue more plenteuouſli.

     A stealthy thief doesn't come unless he can steal, kill, and ruin. But I came so they could have life, and have it more abundantly.

Related terms

• alyve
• lyfles
• lyven
• lyvere

Descendants

• English: life
• Scots: life, leif
• Yola: lief, life

References

• “līf, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /lɨːv/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /liːv/

Verb

lyf

1. Soft mutation of llyf.

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
llyf	lyf	unchanged	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.