English
leaf
Leaf comes from Middle English lef ‘Foliage’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *laubą.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laubąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laubreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lēaf
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lef‘Foliage’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828leaf
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laubąreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laubreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lēaf
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lef‘Foliage’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828leaf
Earliest quotation: 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology: “Then flowered the mead, then leafed all 'Twas caused…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- ‘to cut off’
love, believe, left, library, belief, lodge, lobby, lib, loft, libel, libido, lob, liber, libretto, luft, 17 more
through Middle English lef ‘Foliage’
Today it means
noun The usually green and flat organ that represents the most prominent feature of most vegetative plants.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *laubą / leaf