Etymograph

English

lich

Lich comes from Middle English lich ‘a body’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ‘to jump around, run around’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-‘to jump around, run around’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līką‘body’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līk‘body’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150līċ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lich‘a body’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1845same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leyg-‘to jump around, run around’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*līką‘body’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*līk‘body’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150līċ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lich‘a body’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1845same form

Earliest quotation: 1845, Penny Magazine of the Society for the Di: “[…] and that, as the chronicle states, a lich-way…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ‘to jump around, run around’

like, lake, lay, lai, 1 more

through Proto-Germanic *līką ‘body’

ilk

through Proto-West Germanic *līk ‘body’

leech

Today it means

noun A reanimated corpse or undead being; particularly an intelligent, undead spellcaster.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leyg- / lich

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