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: (s)lēg- : (s)ləg-, and (s)leg- 'weak, feeble, languid'
Semantic Field(s): Weak, Infirm
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | sleac | adj | slack | W7 |
| Middle English: | lachesse | n | laches | W7 |
| languishen | vb | to languish | W7 | |
| lax | adj | lax | W7 | |
| lessour | n | lessor | W7 | |
| lusch | adj | lush; soft, tender | W7 | |
| relaxen | vb | to relax, make less compact | W7 | |
| reles | n | relish | W7 | |
| relesen | vb | to release | W7 | |
| slak | adj | slack | W7 | |
| English: | algolagnia | n | pleasure in inflicting/suffering pain | AHD/W7 |
| catalectic | adj | lacking syllable at end, ending in imperfect foot | AHD/W7 | |
| laches | n | negligence in observance of duty/opportunity | AHD/W7 | |
| lagomorph | n | gnawing mammal: rabbit, hare, pika | AHD/W7 | |
| languid | adj | weak, drooping/flagging (as if) from exhaustion | AHD/W7 | |
| languish | vb.intrans | to be/become weak/feeble/enervated | AHD/W7 | |
| lax | adj | loose, open | AHD/W7 | |
| lease | vb.trans | to let, grant by lease | AHD/W7 | |
| lessor | n | one who conveys by lease | AHD/W7 | |
| lush | adj | producing luxuriant foliage | AHD/W7 | |
| relax | vb | to slacken, make less tense/rigid | AHD/W7 | |
| release | vb.trans | to free from restraint/confinement/servitude | AHD/W7 | |
| relish | n | characteristic taste/flavor | AHD/W7 | |
| slack | adj | negligent, without care/dispatch/diligence | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Dutch: | laken | n | sheet | TLL |
| Old High German: | lahhan | n | sheet, cloth, garment | KDW |
| slah | adj | slack | W7 | |
| German: | Laken | n | sheet | TLL |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | līn-lak | n | linen sheet | KNW |
| Danish: | lagen | n | sheet | TLL |
| Swedish: | lakan | n | sheet | TLL |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | langueo, languēre | vb | to be weak, languid | W7 |
| languidus | adj | languid | W7 | |
| languo, languēre | vb | to languish | W7 | |
| laxō, laxāre | vb | to loosen, slacken | W7 | |
| laxus | adj | lax | W7 | |
| relaxō, relaxāre | vb | to relax, loosen | W7 | |
| Vulgar Latin: | langueo, languere | vb | to languish | W7 |
| Late Latin: | catalecticus | adj | verse with missing syllable(s) | W7 |
| New Latin: | algolagnia | n.fem | algolagnia | W7 |
| Old French: | laissier | vb | to leave, let go | W7 |
| reles | n.masc | something left behind, release | W7 | |
| relessier | vb | to relax | W7 | |
| Anglo-French: | lesser | vb | to lease | W7 |
| lessour | n.masc | lessor, landlord | W7 | |
| Middle French: | languide | adj | languishing | W7 |
| languir | vb | to languish | W7 | |
| laschesse | n.fem | cowardice; lack of scrupulousness re: deadlines | W7 | |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Homeric Greek: | λαγωός | n.masc | hare | LRC |
| λήγω | vb | to stop, cease, abate | LRC | |
| Attic: | λαγώς | n.masc | hare | LRC |
| Greek: | κατα-λήγω | vb | to leave off | LRC |
| katalēktikos | adj | verse with missing syllable(s) | W7 | |
| lagneia | n.fem | lust | W7 | |
| lagnos | adj | lustful | AHD | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| adj | = | adjective |
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| intrans | = | intransitive |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| trans | = | transitive |
| vb | = | verb |
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) |
| KDW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 4th ed. (1993) |
| KNW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |