The story
- Old English · inherited fromlēoftǣl
- Middle English · inherited from*leftal
- English todayleeftail
From Middle English *leftal, *lieftele, from Old English lēoftǣl, lēoftǣle (“kind, lovable, loving, dear, grateful, agreeable”), equivalent to lief + tell.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.