Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 2. leu- 'to free, cut off, separate'
Semantic Field(s): Free (adj), to Release, to Separate
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | forlēosan | vb.str | to lose | ASD/W7 | 
| lēas | adj/sfx | vain, false; loose, bereft of; -less | ASD/W7 | |
| lēas | n.neut | lie, deceit, falsehood | ASD | |
| lēasian | vb.wk | to lie, deceive, prevaricate | ASD/W7 | |
| *lēosan | vb.str.II | to lose | W7 | |
| los | n.neut | loss, destruction | ASD/W7 | |
| losian | vb.wk | to lose, perish, get lost | ASD/W7 | |
| Middle English: | absolute | adj | absolute | W7 | 
| absolven | vb | to absolve | W7 | |
| as(s)oilen, as(s)oilien, assoylen | vb | to assoil | W7 | |
| dissolven | vb | to dissolve | W7 | |
| forloren | vb.past.ptc | lost, forlorn | W7 | |
| lesen | vb | to lose, suffer loss | W7 | |
| lesing | n | leasing | W7 | |
| -les(se) | adj.sfx | -less | W7 | |
| lorn | adj | lorn | W7 | |
| los | n | loss | W7 | |
| losel | n | rogue, rascal, worthless person | W7 | |
| losen | vb | to lose, ruin | W7 | |
| lous | n | louse | W7 | |
| parlesie | n | palsy | W7 | |
| soluble | adj | soluble | W7 | |
| solven | vb | to solve | W7 | |
| English: | absolute | adj | perfect, free from imperfection | AHD/W7 | 
| absolve | vb.trans | to free from obligation/consequences of guilt | AHD/W7 | |
| analysis | n | separation of whole into component parts | AHD/W7 | |
| assoil | vb.trans | to absolve, pardon | AHD/W7 | |
| catalysis | n | increase/modification in rate of chemical reaction | AHD/W7 | |
| dialysis | n | separating substances in solution | AHD/W7 | |
| dissolve | vb | to destroy, cause to disperse/disappear | AHD/W7 | |
| forlorn | adj | bereft, forsaken | AHD/W7 | |
| lag | n | barrel stave | AHD/W7 | |
| leasing | n | lie, falsehood, act of lying | AHD/W7 | |
| leister | n | fishing spear with barbed prongs | AHD/W7 | |
| -less | adj.sfx | devoid of, not having | AHD/W7 | |
| loess | n | unstratified loamy material thought to be deposited by wind | AHD/W7 | |
| loose | adj | not (rigidly/securely) fastened/attached | AHD/W7 | |
| lorn | adj | lost, ruined | AHD/W7 | |
| lose, lost | vb.str | to damn, bring to destruction | AHD/W7 | |
| losel | n | worthless person | AHD/W7 | |
| loss | n | act of losing | AHD/W7 | |
| lues | n | syphilis | AHD/W7 | |
| lyase | n | (kind of) enzyme | AHD | |
| lyo- | pfx | dispersion, dispersed state | AHD/W7 | |
| lysis | n | gradual decline in, e.g., fever | AHD/W7 | |
| -lyte | n.sfx | substance able to undergo decomposition | AHD/W7 | |
| -lytic | adj.sfx | re: decomposition | AHD/W7 | |
| lytic | adj | re: lysis/lysin | AHD/W7 | |
| Nameless | prop.n | a.k.a. Sauron in Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings | LRC | |
| palsy | n | paralysis | AHD/W7 | |
| paralysis | n | complete/partial loss of bodily function | AHD/W7 | |
| resolute | adj | resolved, marked by firm determination | AHD/W7 | |
| resolve | vb | to melt, dissolve | AHD/W7 | |
| soluble | adj | susceptible to being dissolved (as if) in fluid | AHD/W7 | |
| solute | n | dissolved substance | AHD/W7 | |
| solve | vb.trans | to find solution | AHD/W7 | |
| tachylyte | n | black glassy basalt | AHD/W7 | |
| Scots English: | assoilzie | vb | to assoil | CDC | 
| West Germanic | ||||
| Old Frisian: | lās | adj | loose, without, free from | ASD | 
| Dutch: | verliezen | vb | to lose | ASD | 
| Old Saxon: | lōs | adj | false; loose, free from | ASD | 
| Old High German: | lōs | adj | loose | W7 | 
| German: | los | adj | loose, without, free from | ASD | 
| Löß | n.masc | loess | W7 | |
| Tachylyt | n | tachylyte | W7 | |
| verlieren | vb.str | to lose | ASD | |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | lauss | adj | loose, free | LRC | 
| ljósta | vb | to strike | LRC | |
| ljōstr | n | leister | W7 | |
| losa | vb | to loosen | W7 | |
| lögg | n | barrel rim | W7 | |
| Icelandic: | lauss | adj | loose, free, void | ASD | 
| los | n | looseness, breaking up | ASD | |
| East Germanic | ||||
| Gothic: | laus | adj | vain, empty | ASD | 
| láusjan | vb.wk.I | to free, deliver | LRC | |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | absolvo, absolvere, absolvi, absolutus | vb | to absolve, discharge, set free | W7 | 
| dissolvo, dissolvere | vb | to untie, to dissolve | W7 | |
| lues | n.fem | plague | W7 | |
| luo, luere | vb | to release | W7 | |
| paralysis | n.fem | paralysis | W7 | |
| resolvo, resolvere, resolvi, resolutus | vb | to resolve, loosen | W7 | |
| solvo, solvere, solvi, solutus | vb | to loosen, dissolve | W7 | |
| Late Latin: | solubilis | adj | soluble | W7 | 
| Medieval Latin: | analysis | n | analysis | AHD | 
| New Latin: | analysis | n.fem | analysis, breaking up | W7 | 
| dialysis | n.fem | dialysis | W7 | |
| lyo- | pfx | loosening, dispersion | W7 | |
| lysis | n | loosening, dissolution | W7 | |
| Old French: | as(s)oldre, assoil(li)er | vb | to assoil | CDC/W7 | 
| Middle French: | paralisie | n.fem | paralysis | W7 | 
| soluble | adj | able to be loosened/dissolved | W7 | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | analysis | n.fem | breaking up | W7 | 
| analyw | vb | to break up | W7 | |
| dialysis | n.fem | separation | W7 | |
| dialyw | vb | to dissolve | W7 | |
| katalysis | n.fem | dissolution | W7 | |
| katalyw | vb | to dissolve | W7 | |
| lysis | n.fem | act of loosening | W7 | |
| lytikos | adj | able to loosen | W7 | |
| lytos | adj | that may be untied, soluble | W7 | |
| λύω | vb | to loosen, free | LRC | |
| paralysis | n.fem | paralysis | W7 | |
| paralyw | vb | to loosen, disable | W7 | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| I | = | class 1 | 
| II | = | class 2 | 
| adj | = | adjective | 
| fem | = | feminine (gender) | 
| masc | = | masculine (gender) | 
| n | = | noun | 
| neut | = | neuter (gender) | 
| past | = | past (tense) | 
| pfx | = | prefix | 
| prop | = | proper | 
| ptc | = | participle | 
| sfx | = | suffix | 
| str | = | strong (inflection) | 
| trans | = | transitive | 
| vb | = | verb | 
| wk | = | weak (inflection) | 
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) | 
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) | 
| CDC | = | W.D. Whitney and B.E. Smith: The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (1889-1911) | 
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin | 
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |