English
luge
Luge comes from Franco-Provençal luge, and goes back to Gaulish *stludio.
- Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*stludioreconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsclodia
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scludia
- Franco-Provençalmodernluge
- Englishearliest quotation 1999same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*stludioreconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEsclodia
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scludia
- Franco-Provençalmodernluge
- Englishearliest quotation 1999same form
Earliest quotation: 1999, Ronald S. Beitman, Liquor Liability: A Primer for Winning Your Case: “The luge was a block of ice, sometimes up…”
The story
The noun is borrowed from Swiss French or Franco-Provençal luge, from Medieval Latin scludia, from Late Latin sclodia, of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *stludio, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- (‘to slide, slip; to be slick or slippery’). If so, it is related to sled and sleigh. Sense 2.2 (‘drinking utensil’) is from its resemblance to the tracks on which luges race.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₃sleydʰ- ‘to slide, slip’
Today it means
noun A racing sled for one or two people that is ridden with the rider or riders lying on their back.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Gaulish *stludio / luge