Etymology

liar

li·ar
L1I1A1R1

Today it means: Someone who tells a lie; especially, a person who frequently lies. Full definition →

Middle English lier ← Old English lēgere ← Proto-West Germanic *leugārī
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*leugārijaz“liar”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*leugārī
  3. Old English · inherited fromlēgere
  4. Middle English · inherited fromlier
  5. English todayliar

Inherited from Middle English lier, liere, lyere, liȝer, lieȝer, legher, from Old English lēgere, lēogere (“liar, false witness, hypocrite”), from Proto-West Germanic *leugārī, from Proto-Germanic *leugārijaz (“liar”), from *leuganą (“to lie”) + *-ārijaz, equivalent to lie + -ar. More at lie.

Words from the same roots

Middle Englishlier all →

lier

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.