leafyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[leaf 词源字典]
leaf: [OE] Leaf goes back to a prehistoric Germanic *laubaz, which also produced words for ‘foliage’ in other modern Germanic languages (German laub, Dutch loof, Swedish löf, and Danish løv). It is not known for certain where the Germanic word came from, although a connection has been suggested with Russian lupit’ ‘bark’. It may also lie behind the modern English words lobby and lodge.
=> lobby, lodge[leaf etymology, leaf origin, 英语词源]
leaf (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
Old English leaf "leaf of a plant; page of a book," from Proto-Germanic *laubaz (cognates: Old Saxon lof, Old Norse lauf, Old Frisian laf, Dutch loof, Old High German loub, German Laub "foliage, leaves," Gothic lauf), perhaps from PIE *leup- "to peel off, break off" (cognates: Lithuanian luobas, Old Church Slavonic lubu "bark, rind"). Extended 15c. to very thin sheets of metal (especially gold). Meaning "hinged flap on the side of a table" is from 1550s.
leaf (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
"to turn over (the pages of a book)," 1660s, from leaf (n.). The notion of a book page also is in the phrase to turn over a (new) leaf (1570s). Related: Leafed; leaved; leafing.