English
Lilith
Lilith comes from Hebrew לִילִית ‘night-demon, vampire’, and goes back to Akkadian lilû, lilītu.
- Akkadianc. 2500–100 BCElilû, lilītutransliteratedcuneiform lilû, lilītu, a transliteration‘demon’
- Hebrew1880s–presentלִילִיתlîlîṯ‘night-demon, vampire’
- Englishearliest quotation 1881Lilith
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Akkadianc. 2500–100 BCElilû, lilītutransliteratedcuneiform lilû, lilītu, a transliteration‘demon’
- Hebrew1880s–presentלִילִיתlîlîṯ‘night-demon, vampire’
- Englishearliest quotation 1881Lilith
Earliest quotation: 1881, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Body’s Beauty: “Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told /…”
Every English word from Akkadian lilû, lilītu
Today it means
name A Mesopotamian storm demon, a bearer of disease and death.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Akkadian lilû, lilītu / Lilith