ledger

ledger · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*legʰ-“to lie down”
2. Old English · inherited fromliċġan“to lie down; to be situated”
3. Middle English · inherited fromliggere
4. English todayledger

From Middle English liggere, ligger, leger (“large breviary; beam, plank; dweller, inhabitant”), from liggen, leggen, variants of līen (“to lie down; to bow, kneel, prostrate; to die; to be located (somewhere); to remain in place, stay”), from Old English liċġan (“to lie down; to be situated”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ- (“to lie down”). The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian Lägger (“floor board, joist, plank”), West Frisian lêger (“beam, plank”), Dutch legger (“daybook; layer”) (from leggen (“to lay”), liggen (“to lie down”)), and is related to English ledge, lie (“to be prostrate”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Ledger · proper noun²

1. Old English · derived fromleċġan“to lay”
2. English todayLedger

Two possible origins: * English patronymic surname from either the Norman personal name Leodegar or the Old French equivalent Legier, both containing the Proto-Germanic elements *liudiz (“men, people”) and *garwaz (“ready, prepared”). * English metonymic occupational surname for a stonemason, from ledger, itself a derivative of Old English leċġan (“to lay”).

Words from the same roots