The story
- Old English · inherited fromlēaffull
- Middle English · inherited fromleful
- English todayleaful
From Middle English leful, lefful, leafful, from Old English lēaffull, ġelēafful (“full of belief, full of faith, believing, faithful”), equivalent to leave + -ful. Cognate with Scots leful, levefull (“right, permissible, legal, just”).
Words from the same roots
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.