Where does “leaves” come from?
Leave comes from French lever, from Latin levare meaning "to lift," derived from Latin levis meaning "light in weight," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European lewbʰ-.
leaves (English): plural of leaf; plural of leave; Third-person...
Definitions
- plural of leaf; plural of leave; Third-person...
Ancestry of “leaves”, step by step
leaves traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English leave
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | leave | To have a consequence or remnant; To depart; to... |
| 2 | French | lever | To raise, lift; To rise, stand up; To get up |
| 3 | Middle French | lever | to lift |
| 4 | Old French | lever | to lift; to get up |
| 5 | Latin | levō | to raise, elevate, lift up |
| 6 | Latin | lēvis | light, not heavy |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | leɣʷis | light |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁léngʰus | lightweight |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁lengʷʰ- | light |
via English leaf
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | leaf | The usually green and flat organ that represents... |
| 2 | Old English | Leofa | — |
| 3 | Old English | lēof | lief, dear |
| 4 | West Germanic | *leub | — |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | leubaz | dear, beloved |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | lewbʰ- | to desire, covet, want; to admire, praise; to... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | lēw- | to sound, resound, sing out; to leave |