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lectio difficilior [lectio difficilior 词源字典]: Latin, literally "harder reading," from phrase maxim difficilior lectio potior. In textual reconstruction (of the Bible, etc.) the idea that, of two alternative manuscript readings, the one whose meaning is less obvious is less likely to be a copyist's alteration, and therefore should be given precedence.[lectio difficilior etymology, lectio difficilior origin, 英语词源]
lection (n.): 1530s, from Old French lection, from Latin lectionem (nominative lectio), noun of action from past participle stem of legere "to read" (see lecture (n.)).
lector (n.): late 14c., "reader, a cleric in one of the minor orders," from Late Latin lector "reader," agent noun from Latin legere "to read" (see lecture (n.)). Related: Lectorship.
lecture (n.): late 14c., "action of reading, that which is read," from Medieval Latin lectura "a reading, lecture," from Latin lectus, past participle of legere "to read," originally "to gather, collect, pick out, choose" (compare election), from PIE *leg- (1) "to pick together, gather, collect" (cognates: Greek legein "to say, tell, speak, declare," originally, in Homer, "to pick out, select, collect, enumerate;" lexis "speech, diction;" logos "word, speech, thought, account;" Latin lignum "wood, firewood," literally "that which is gathered").

To read is to "pick out words." Meaning "action of reading (a lesson) aloud" is from 1520s. That of "a discourse on a given subject before an audience for purposes of instruction" is from 1530s.
lecture (v.): 1580s, from lecture (n.). Meaning "to address severely and at length" is from 1706. Related: Lectured; lecturing.
lecturer (n.): 1580s, agent noun from lecture (v.).
LED (n.): 1968, initialism (acronym) from light-emitting diode.
led: past tense and past participle of lead (v.).
lede (n.): by 1965, alternative spelling of lead (n.2) in the newspaper journalism sense (see lead (v.)), to distinguish this sense from other possible meanings of the written word, perhaps especially the molten lead (n.1) used in typesetting machines.
lederhosen (n.): leather shorts worn in Alpine regions, 1937, German, literally "leather trousers" (see leather and hose). Old English had cognate leðerhose. German hosen displaced Old High German bruch, from the basic Germanic word for "trousers" (see breeches).
ledge (n.): late 13c., "crossbar on a door," perhaps from Middle English verb leggen "to place, lay" (see lay (v.)). Sense of "narrow shelf" is first recorded 1550s; "shelf-like projection of rock" is from 1550s.
ledger (n.): "account book," c. 1400, from leggen "to place, lay" (see lay (v.)). Originally a book that lies permanently in a place (especially a large copy of a breviary in a church). Sense of "book of accounts" is first attested 1580s, short for ledger-book (1550s).
lee (n.): Old English hleo "shelter, cover, defense, protection," from Proto-Germanic *khlewaz (cognates: Old Norse hle, Danish læ, Old Saxon hleo, Dutch lij "lee, shelter"). No known cognates outside Germanic; original sense uncertain and might have been "warm" (compare German lau "tepid," Old Norse hly "shelter, warmth"), which might link it to PIE *kele- (1) "warm." Nautical sense "that part of the hemisphere to which the wind is directed" (c. 1400) is from the notion of the side of the ship opposite that which receives the wind as the sheltered side. As an adjective, 1510s, from the noun.
Lee-Enfield: 1902, named for J.P. Lee (1831-1904), U.S. designer of bolt action + Enfield (q.v.).
leech (n.1): "bloodsucking aquatic worm," from Old English læce (Kentish lyce), of unknown origin (with a cognate in Middle Dutch lake). Commonly regarded as a transferred use of leech (n.2), but the Old English forms suggest a distinct word, which has been assimilated to leech (n.2) by folk etymology [see OED]. Figuratively applied to human parasites since 1784.
leech (n.2): obsolete for "physician," from Old English læce, probably from Old Danish læke, from Proto-Germanic *lekjaz "enchanter, one who speaks magic words; healer, physician" (cognates: Old Frisian letza, Old Saxon laki, Old Norse læknir, Old High German lahhi, Gothic lekeis "physician"), literally "one who counsels," perhaps connected with a root found in Celtic (compare Irish liaig "charmer, exorcist, physician") and Slavic (compare Serbo-Croatian lijekar, Polish lekarz), from PIE *lep-agi "conjurer," from root *leg- "to collect," with derivatives meaning "to speak" (see lecture (n.)).

For sense development, compare Old Church Slavonic baliji "doctor," originally "conjurer," related to Serbo-Croatian bajati "enchant, conjure;" Old Church Slavonic vrači, Russian vrač "doctor," related to Serbo-Croatian vrač "sorcerer, fortune-teller." The form merged with leech (n.1) in Middle English, apparently by folk etymology. In 17c., leech usually was applied only to veterinary practitioners. The fourth finger of the hand, in Old English, was læcfinger, translating Latin digitus medicus, Greek daktylus iatrikos, supposedly because a vein from that finger stretches straight to the heart.
leechcraft (n.): "art of healing," Old English læcecræft; see leech (2) + craft (n.).
leek (n.): culinary herb, Old English læc (Mercian), leac (West Saxon) "leek, onion, garlic," from Proto-Germanic *lauka- (cognates: Old Norse laukr "leek, garlic," Danish løg, Swedish lök "onion," Old Saxon lok "leek," Middle Dutch looc, Dutch look "leek, garlic," Old High German louh, German Lauch "leek"). No known cognates; Finnish laukka, Russian luk-, Old Church Slavonic luku are borrowed from Germanic.
leer (v.): "to look obliquely" (now usually implying "with a lustful or malicious intent"), 1520s, probably from Middle English noun ler "cheek," from Old English hleor "the cheek, the face," from Proto-Germanic *khleuzas "near the ear," from *kleuso- "ear," from PIE root *kleu- "to hear" (see listen). The notion is probably of "looking askance" (compare figurative development of cheek). Related: Leered; leering.
leer (n.): 1590s, from leer (v).