English
log
Log comes from Middle English logge ‘large long stick, staff, pole, log’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500logge‘large long stick’
- Englishearliest quotation 1968log
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500logge‘large long stick’
- Englishearliest quotation 1968log
Earliest quotation: 1968, Paper Converting Machine Co., Inc. V. FMC Corporation: “3. An apparatus for cutting a log of paper…”
The story
From Middle English logge, logg (first recorded in Anglo-Latin as loggum), of uncertain origin, but probably from Old Norse lóg, lág (‘felled tree, log’), derived from Old Norse liggja (‘to lie’).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. However the Old Norse/Middle Norwegian vowel is long while Middle English vowel is short.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- ‘to lie’
college, legal, lawyer, fellow, layer, legacy, colleague, delegation, loyalty, loyal, litter, delegate, lex, ledger, collegiate, ledge, lair, lees, lawlessness, legate, leaguer, lig, leal, collegium, underlay, lias, 20 more
through Proto-Germanic *ligjaną ‘to lie, to rest’
through Old Norse lóg ‘felled tree, log’
through Middle English logge ‘large long stick, staff, pole, log’
Another origin of log
- Egyptianc. 3200 BCE–600 CEʿrq
- Hebrew1880s–presentלֹג‘a unit of liquid measurement’
- Englishtodaylog
Today it means
noun The trunk of a dead tree, cleared of branches.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English logge / log