英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

lighting (n.)[lighting 词源字典]: "shining, illumination," Old English lihting, from leoht (see light (n.)).[lighting etymology, lighting origin, 英语词源]
lightless (adj.): Old English leohtleas; see light (n.) + -less.
lightly (adv.): Old English leohtlice "so as not to be heavy" (of material things, but also of sleep, blows, etc.); cognate with Old Frisian lichtelik, Old High German lihtlihho, German leichtlich, Old Norse lettlega (see light (adj.1)). Meaning "frivolously, indifferently" is from early 13c.
lightness (n.): "quality of having little weight," late Old English, from light (adj.1) + -ness.
lightning (n.): late 13c., present participle of lightnen "make bright," extended form of Old English lihting, from leht (see light (n.)). Meaning "cheap, raw whiskey" is attested from 1781, also sometimes "gin." Lightning bug is attested from 1778. Lightning rod from 1790.
lights (n.): "the lungs," c. 1200, literally "the light (in weight) organs," from light (adj.1); also see lung. Obsolete now except in phrases like to knock (someone's) lights out.
lightweight (adj.): also light-weight, 1773 in horse-racing, also in pugilism; from light (adj.1) + weight. Figurative sense of "inconsequential" first attested 1809.
ligneous (adj.): "woody," 1620s, from French ligneux and directly from Latin ligneus, from lignum "wood, firewood" (see ligni-).
ligni-: word-forming element meaning "wood," from Latin lignum "wood, firewood," from PIE *leg-no-, literally "that which is collected," from root *leg- "to collect" (see lecture (n.)).
lignin (n.): 1822, from Latin lignum "wood" (see ligni-) + chemical suffix -in (2).
lignite (n.): "imperfectly formed coal," 1808, from French, from Latin lignum "wood" (see ligni-). Brown coal that still shows traces of the wood it once was. Probably directly from Lithanthrax Lignius, name given to woody coal by Swedish chemist Johan Gottschalk Wallerius (1709-1785) in 1775.
like (adj.): "having the same characteristics or qualities" (as another), Middle English shortening of Old English gelic "like, similar," from Proto-Germanic *galika- "having the same form," literally "with a corresponding body" (cognates: Old Saxon gilik, Dutch gelijk, German gleich, Gothic galeiks "equally, like"), a compound of *ga- "with, together" + Germanic base *lik- "body, form; like, same" (cognates: Old English lic "body," German Leiche "corpse," Danish lig, Swedish lik, Dutch lijk "body, corpse"). Analogous, etymologically, to Latin conform. The modern form (rather than *lich) may be from a northern descendant of the Old English word's Norse cognate, glikr.

Formerly with comparative liker and superlative likest (still in use 17c.). The preposition (c. 1200) and the adverb (c. 1300) both are from the adjective. As a conjunction, first attested early 16c. The word has been used as a postponed filler ("going really fast, like") from 1778; as a presumed emphatic ("going, like, really fast") from 1950, originally in counterculture slang and bop talk. Phrase more like it "closer to what is desired" is from 1888.
like (n.): c. 1200, "a similar thing" (to another), from like (adj.).
like (v.): Old English lician "to please, be sufficient," from Proto-Germanic *likjan (cognates: Old Norse lika, Old Frisian likia, Old High German lihhen, Gothic leikan "to please"), from *lik- "body, form; like, same."

The basic meaning seems to be "to be like" (see like (adj.)), thus, "to be suitable." Like (and dislike) originally flowed the other way: It likes me, where we would say I like it. The modern flow began to appear late 14c. (compare please).
likeable (adj.): also likable, 1730, from like (v.) + -able. Related: Likeableness.
likelihood (n.): late 14c., "resemblance, similarity," from likely + -hood. Meaning "probability" is from mid-15c.
likely (adj.): c. 1300, perhaps from Old Norse likligr "likely," from likr "like" (see like (adj.)). Old English had cognate geliclic. Meaning "having the appearance of being strong and capable" is from mid-15c., though now mostly confined to American English; according to OED this sense is perhaps influenced by like (v.). Sense of "good-looking" is from late 15c. Meaning "probably" is attested from late 14c., now principally in American English.
LIKELY. That may be liked; that may please; handsome. In the United States, as a colloquial term, respectable; worthy of esteem; sensible.--Worcester. [Bartlett]
As an adverb, late 14c., from the adjective.
likeminded (adj.): also like-minded, 1520s, from like (adj.) + minded. One word from 19c.
liken (v.): late 13c., "to represent as like," from like (adj.) + -en (1). Related: Likened; likening.
likeness (n.): Old English (Northumbrian) licnes "likeness, similarity; figure, statue, image," shortened from gelicness; see like (adj.) + -ness.