The story
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*liþugaz
- Old English · inherited fromliþiġ“free, unrestrained, flexible”
- Middle English · inherited fromlethi
- English todaylithy
From Middle English lethi, from Old English liþiġ (“free, unrestrained, flexible”), from Proto-Germanic *liþugaz; equivalent to lith (“limb, joint”) + -y. Cognate with Dutch ledig, German ledig, Swedish ledig, Icelandic liðugur.
Words from the same roots
Proto-Germanic*liþugaz all →
liege
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.