Etymograph

English

lye

Lye comes from Middle English leye ‘a piece of open land’, from Proto-Germanic *laugō ‘bath, wash’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₃-‘to wash’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laugō‘bath, wash’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laugureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēah
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leye‘a piece of open land’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2019lye

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₃-‘to wash’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laugō‘bath, wash’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*laugureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēah
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leye‘a piece of open land’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2019lye

Earliest quotation: 2019, Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift: “She had not left the lye in too long…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- ‘to wash’

laundry, lavish, deluge, lavatory, alluvial, launder, lather, solute, laver, latrine, lave, lavage, ablution, diluent, 14 more

through Old English lēah

leigh, lea

Today it means

noun An alkaline liquid made by leaching ashes (usually wood ashes).

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- / lye

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