lush

lush · adjective¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*lēy-“to let; leave behind”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*laskuz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*laskwī̆
4. Old English · inherited from*lysċ
5. Middle English · inherited fromlusch“slack, relaxed, limp, loose”
6. English todaylush

From Middle English lusch (“slack, relaxed, limp, loose”), from Old English *lysċ, lesċ (“slack; limp”), from Proto-West Germanic *laskwī̆, from Proto-Germanic *laskuz, *laskwaz (“weak, false, feeble”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēy- (“to let; leave behind”). Akin to Old English lysu, lesu (“false, evil, base”), Middle Low German lasch (“slack”), Middle High German er-leswen (“to become weak”), Old Norse lǫskr (“weak, feeble”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍃𐌹𐍅𐍃 (lasiws, “weak, feeble”), Middle Low German las, lasich (“slack, languid, idle”), Low German lusch (“loose”). Doublet of lusk. More at lishey, lazy.

lush · noun, adjective, verb²

1. Shelta · derived fromlush“food and drink”
2. English todaylush

Perhaps a humorous use of the preceding word, or perhaps from Shelta lush (“food and drink”) (the sense "liquor" is older than the sense "drinker"). The Century Dictionary wrote that it was "said to be so called from one Lushington, a once well-known London brewer", but the Online Etymology Dictionary considers lushington (“drinker”) a humorous extension of lush instead.

Lush · proper noun³

1. Proto-Slavic · derived from*luža
2. Lower Sorbian · derived fromłuža“swampy land”
3. Middle High German · derived fromliesche“reeds”
4. English todayLush

* As an English surname, from the original sense of the adjective lush (“relaxed, slack”). * As a German surname, Americanized from Lüsch, from several placenames in Germany, derived from the obsolete Middle High German liesche (“reeds”). Also East German of Slavic origin, such as Lower Sorbian łuža (“swampy land”), from Proto-Slavic *luža.

Words from the same roots