English
legist
Legist comes from Medieval Latin lēgista ‘one skilled in law, legist’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *lēks.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lēks‘law’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElex‘law’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500lēgista‘one skilled in law, legist’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600légiste
- Englishearliest quotation 1933legist
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lēks‘law’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElex‘law’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500lēgista‘one skilled in law, legist’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600légiste
- Englishearliest quotation 1933legist
Earliest quotation: 1933, Herbert George Wells, The Second Conference at Basra, 1978: “There were a number of lawyers of the older…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’
law, low, lie, fellow, lawyer, layer, log, litter, ledger, lair, ledge, lawless, lees, lig, underlay, leaguer, lagan, lias, 16 more
through Proto-Indo-European *lḗgʰs
disloyalty, illegality, 4 more
through Proto-Italic *lēks ‘law’
through Latin lex ‘law’
college, lay, legal, loyal, legacy, colleague, delegation, delegate, lex, collegiate, relegate, leal, legate, collegium, 8 more
Today it means
noun One skilled in the law.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *lēks / legist