Etymograph

English

lithe

Lithe comes from Old English līþe ‘gentle, mild’, from Proto-Germanic *linþaz ‘bendsome’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lentos.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lentosreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*linþaz‘bendsome’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*linþ(ī)‘gentle’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150līþe‘gentle, mild’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lithe
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1861lithe

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lentosreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*linþaz‘bendsome’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*linþ(ī)‘gentle’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150līþe‘gentle, mild’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lithe
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1861lithe

Earliest quotation: 1861, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.: “… she danced with a kind of passionate fierceness,…”

The story

Some sources also list Latin lenis (‘soft’) and/or Latin lentus (‘supple’) as possible cognates.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lentos

relent, lento, 8 more

through Proto-Germanic *linþaz ‘bendsome’

linden, lind, 1 more

through Old English līþe ‘gentle, mild’

liss, 1 more

Another origin of lithe

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱlew-‘to hear’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hliuþijaną‘to listen’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350hlýða‘to listen’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lithen
  5. Englishtodaylithe

Today it means

adj Mild; calm.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lentos / lithe

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