Etymograph

English

livid

Livid comes from Latin līvidus ‘bluish, livid’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)lih₃-wó-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)lih₃-wó-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*slīwēōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīveō‘be of a bluish color or livid’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīvidus‘bluish, livid’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600livide
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500livid‘livid, blue (color)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1678same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)lih₃-wó-reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*slīwēōreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElīveō‘be of a bluish color or livid’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElīvidus‘bluish, livid’
  5. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600livide
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500livid‘livid, blue (color)’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1678same form

Earliest quotation: 1678, John Shirley, Wounds: “Ulcers having had their beginning during a Diſeaſe, or…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lih₃-wó-

Today it means

adj Having a dark, bluish appearance.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)lih₃-wó- / livid

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