low

low · adjective, noun, adverb, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*legʰ-
2. Proto-Indo-European*légʰyeti
3. Proto-Germanic*ligjaną
4. Proto-Germanic*lēgaz
5. Old Norselágr
6. Middle Englishlāh
7. English todaylow

From Middle English lah, loue, from Old Norse lágr (“low”), from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz (“low; flat”), from *ligjaną (“to lie; to lead”), from Proto-Indo-European *légʰyeti (“to be lying down”), from *legʰ- (“to lie”). Cognates Cognate with Scots laich (“low”), Saterland Frisian läich (“low”), West Frisian leech (“low”), Dutch laag (“low”), German Low German leeg, leeg' (“low; inferior”), West Flemish leeg (“lazy”), Danish lav (“low”), Faroese and Icelandic lágur (“low”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish låg (“low”), Finnish laaka (“flat”), Ingrian laaku (“gentle”); also Irish laigh, luigh (“to lie”), Manx lhie (“lie; lay”), Scottish Gaelic laigh (“lie; lay”), Faliscan 𐌋𐌄𐌂𐌄𐌕 (lecet, “he lies down”), Latin lectus (“bed”), South Picene 𐌅𐌄𐌉𐌀𐌕 (veiat, “to lie”), Ancient Greek λέχομαι (lékhomai, “to lie down”), Albanian lag (“band, encampment, troop”), Belarusian ляжа́ць (ljažácʹ, “to lie”), Bulgarian лежа́ (ležá, “to lie”), Czech ležet (“to lie”), Macedonian лежи (leži, “to lie”), Polish leżeć (“to lie”), Russian лежа́ть (ležátʹ, “to lie”), Serbo-Croatian лѐжати, lèžati (“to lie”), Slovene ležáti (“to lie”), Ukrainian лежа́ти (ležáty, “to lie”), Tocharian B lyäk- (“to lie”). More at lie.

low · verb²

1. Old English · inherited fromhlōh
2. Middle English · inherited fromlough
3. English todaylow

From Middle English lough, from Old English hlōh, first and third person singular preterite of hliehhan (“to laugh”). More at laugh.

low · verb³

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kelh₁-“to call”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hlōaną“to call; shout”
3. Old English · inherited fromhlōwan“to low; to bellow; to roar”
4. Middle English · inherited fromlowen“to low”
5. English todaylow

From Middle English lowen (“to low”), from Old English hlōwan (“to low; to bellow; to roar”), from Proto-Germanic *hlōaną (“to call; shout”), from Proto-Indo-European *kelh₁- (“to call”). Cognate with Dutch loeien (“to low”), Middle High German lüejen (“to roar”), dialectal Swedish lumma (“to roar”), Latin calō (“to call”), Ancient Greek καλέω (kaléō), Latin clāmō (“to shout, claim”). More at claim.

low · noun, verb⁴

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lewk-“light”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*lugô“flame, blaze”
3. Old Norse · derived fromlogi“fire, flame, sword”
4. Middle English · inherited fromlowe
5. English todaylow

From Middle English lowe, loghe, from Old Norse logi (“fire, flame, sword”), from Proto-Germanic *lugô (“flame, blaze”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“light”). Cognate with Icelandic logi (“flame”), Swedish låga (“flame”), Danish lue (“flame”), German Lohe (“blaze, flames”), North Frisian leag (“fire, flame”), Old English līeġ (“fire, flame, lightning”). More at More at leye and More at light.

low · noun⁵

1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱel-
2. Proto-Indo-European*ḱley-
3. Proto-Indo-European*ḱloy-wo-m
4. Proto-Germanic*hlaiwą
5. Proto-West Germanic*hlaiw
6. Old Englishhlǣw
7. Middle Englishlowe
8. English todaylow

From Middle English lowe, from Old English hlāw, hlǣw (“burial mound”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlaiw. Obsolete by the 19th century, survives in toponymy as -low.

low · verb⁶

Apheretic form of allow.

Low · proper noun⁷

1. Anglo-Norman · derived fromleu“wolf”
2. English todayLow

* As an English and Scottish surname, from the obsolete noun low (“mound, barrow”). * Also as an English and Scottish surname, from the adjective low. * Also as an English and Scottish surname of Norman origin, from Anglo-Norman leu (“wolf”). * Also as a Scottish surname, from a pet form of Lawrence. Compare Lowry. * As a German and Jewish surname, variant of Löwe, Lowe, Loew. * As a Chinese surname, variant of Lau, Lou; also Li, Luo.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 17th c. Not rich or seasoned; offering the minimum of nutritional requirements; plain, simple.