Etymograph

English

Lucy

Lucy comes from Middle English Lucy, and goes back to Old French Lucie.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Lucie
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Lucy
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1591same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400Lucie
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Lucy
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1591same form

Earliest quotation: 1591, William Shakespeare, The First Part of Henry the Sixt: “Here is Sir William Lucy, who with me /…”

The story

The name of the Australopithecus skeleton came from the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, which was being played repeatedly at the dig site camp at the time of the discovery. The slang term for LSD also derives from the song name, which many believe is essentially a reference to the drug.

Every English word from Old French Lucie

Today it means

name A female given name from Latin.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French Lucie / Lucy

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