Etymology Explorer › Russian

Where does “лихой” come from?

лихой (Russian) comes from Old East Slavic лихъ, from Proto-Slavic lixъ, from Proto-Indo-European leykʷ- — to leave.

Ancestry of “лихой”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old East Slavicлихъbad; superfluous, excessive, bad
2Proto-Slaviclixъremaining, unnecessary, superfluous, bad
3Proto-Indo-Europeanleykʷ-to leave

Words derived from “лихой”

  • лихость
  • лихо
Every word from Proto-Indo-European leykʷ- →