Where does “list” come from?
list (Middle Dutch) comes from Old Dutch list, from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic listiz, from Proto-Indo-European leys- — to trace, to track.
Ancestry of “list”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old Dutch | list | — |
| 2 | Proto-West Germanic | *listi | — |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | listiz | art, craft; cunning, guile |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | leys- | to trace, to track |
Words derived from “list”