Etymograph

English

lait

Lait comes from Old Norse leita ‘to seek, search, inquire’, from Proto-Germanic *wlaitōną ‘to look out, see’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wel-‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wlaitōną‘to look out, see’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350leita‘to seek, search, inquire’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laiten
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1862lait

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wel-‘to see’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wlaitōną‘to look out, see’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350leita‘to seek, search, inquire’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500laiten
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1862lait

Earliest quotation: 1862, Song of Solomon: “By neeght, o' my bed, I laited him, at…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *wel- ‘to see’

walt, lit, welt, wold, wald, vole, weald, 3 more

Today it means

verb To seek; search for; inquire.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wel- / lait

Shirt and support for this word