英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

Leica [Leica 词源字典]: 1925, proprietary name of cameras made by firm of Ernst & Leitz Gesellschaft, Wetzlar, Germany.[Leica etymology, Leica origin, 英语词源]
Leicester: Ligera ceaster (early 10c.) "Roman Town of the People Called Ligore," a tribal name, of unknown origin. For second element, see Chester.
Leila: fem. proper name, from Arabic Laylah, literally "dark as night," from laylah "night."
leio-: word-forming element meaning "smooth," from Greek leio-, comb. form of leios "smooth." E.g. leiotrichy "condition of having straight, lank hair" (1924).
leisure (n.): early 14c., leisir, "opportunity to do something" (as in phrase at (one's) leisure), also "time at one's disposal," from Old French leisir (Modern French loisir) "capacity; permission; leisure, spare time; free will; idleness, inactivity," noun use of infinitive leisir "be permitted," from Latin licere "be permitted" (see licence). The -u- appeared 16c., probably on analogy of words like pleasure. Phrase leisured class attested by 1836.
leisurely (adj.): c. 1600, from leisure (n.) + -ly (1). As an adverb, with -ly (2), from late 15c. Related: Leisureliness.
leitmotif (n.): 1876, "a musical figure to which some definite meaning is attached," from German Leitmotiv, literally "lead motive," from leiten "to lead" (see lead (v.1)) + Motiv (see motive). A term associated with Wagnerian musical drama, though the thing itself is at least as old as Mozart. "The leitmotif must be characteristic of the person or thing it is intended to represent." ["Elson's Music Dictionary"]
lek (v.): to engage in courtship displays of certain animals, 1871, probably from Swedish leka "to play," cognate of English dialectal verb lake (see lark (v.)).
leman (n.): "sweetheart, paramour" (archaic), late 13c., from Middle English leofman (c. 1200), from Old English leof "dear" (see lief) + man "human being, person" (see man (n.)). Originally of either gender, though deliberate archaic usage tends to limit it to women.
lemma (n.): 1560s, first in mathematics, from Greek lemma (plural lemmata) "something received or taken; an argument; something taken for granted," from root of lambanein "to take" (see analemma).
lemming (n.): small arctic rodent, c. 1600, from Norwegian lemming, from Old Norse lomundr "lemming." Perhaps from Lapp luomek. Figurative sense (in reference to their mass migrations that sometimes end in plunges into the sea) is from 1958.
lemniscus (n.): 1811, from Late Latin lemniscus "a pendent ribbon," from Greek lemniskos "woolen ribbon," perhaps originally or literally "of Lemnos," island in the Aegean. Related: Lemniscate (1781).
lemon (n.1): type of citrus fruit, c. 1400, lymon, from Old French limon "citrus fruit" (12c.), via Provençal or Italian from Arabic laimun, from Persian limu(n), generic terms for citrus fruits (compare lime (n.2)); cognate with Sanskrit nimbu "the lime." Slang meaning "a Quaalude" is 1960s, from Lemmon, name of a pharmaceutical company that once manufactured the drug.
lemon (n.2): "worthless thing," 1909, American English slang; from lemon (n.1), perhaps via criminal slang sense of "a person who is a loser, a simpleton," which is perhaps from the notion of someone a sharper can "suck the juice out of." A pool hall hustle was called a lemon game (1908); while to hand someone a lemon was British slang (1906) for "to pass off a sub-standard article as a good one." Or it simply may be a metaphor for something which leaves a bad taste in one's mouth.
lemonade (n.): 1660s, from French limonade (17c.); see lemon (n.1) + -ade. Earlier English spelling was lemonado (c. 1640) with false Spanish ending.
lemony (adj.): 1846, from lemon (n.1) + -y (2). In Australia/New Zealand slang, also "irritated, angry" (1941).
lemur (n.): nocturnal Madagascar mammal, 1795, coined by Linnaeus, from Latin lemures (plural) "spirits of the dead" in Roman mythology.
The oldest usage of "lemur" for a primate that we are aware of is in Linnaeus's catalog of the Museum of King Adolf Frederick of Sweden (Tattersall, 1982); .... In this work, he explained his use of the name "lemur" thus: "Lemures dixi hos, quod noctu imprimis obambulant, hominibus quodanmodo similes, & lento passu vagantur [I call them lemurs, because they go around mainly by night, in a certain way similar to humans, and roam with a slow pace]" [Dunkel, Alexander R., et al., "Giant rabbits, marmosets, and British comedies: etymology of lemur names, part 1," in "Lemur News," vol. 16, 2011-2012, p.65]
Lemuria (1864) was the name given by English zoologist P.L. Sclater (1829-1913) to a hypothetical ancient continent connecting Africa and Southeastern Asia (and including Madagascar), which was hypothesized to explain phenomena now accounted for by continental drift. Earlier it was the name of the Roman feast of the Lemures.
Lena: fem. proper name, originally a shortened form of Helena or Magdalena.
Lenape: 1728, native name for Delaware Indians, said to mean "original people."
lend (v.): late 14c., from Old English lænan "to lend," from læn "loan" (see loan). Cognate with Dutch lenen, Old High German lehanon, German lehnen, also verbs derived from nouns. Past tense form, with terminal -d, became the principal form in Middle English on analogy of bend, send, etc.