The story
- Proto-Indo-European · derived from*legʰ-“to lie”
- Proto-Celtic · derived from*legyā“sediment”
- Old English · inherited fromLægreċeastresċīr
- English todayLeicestershire
From Old English Lægreċeastresċīr. The middle and last element are ceaster (“town, city”) and scir (“district”), common in placenames. The first element is probably from the former name of the river Soar, *Ligora, *Ligera, of Celtic/Brythonic origin, from Proto-Celtic *legyā (“sediment”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie”), similar to the French river Loire. By surface analysis, Leicester + -shire.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Celtic*legyā all →
leesLoirelias
Proto-Indo-European*legʰ- all →
lawlaylieledgerlairledgeleesLoirelias
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.