Etymology Explorer › Middle High German

Where does “list” come from?

list (Middle High German) comes from Old High German list, from Proto-Germanic listiz, from Proto-Indo-European leys- — to trace, to track.

Ancestry of “list”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old High Germanlist—
2Proto-Germaniclistizart, craft; cunning, guile
3Proto-Indo-Europeanleys-to trace, to track

Words derived from “list”

  • überlisten
  • List
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leys- →