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laþian

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Etymology and origin of the Old English word laþian

laþian1 to invite

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
890–897 Pastoral Care
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *laþō

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlɑ.θi.ɑn/, [ˈlɑ.ði.ɑn][1]

Forms

laþian (weak class 2; third-person singular present laþaþ, past singular laþode, past plural laþodon)[1]

Etymology

The word for "to invite" is inherited from Proto-Germanic *laþōną (“to invite, call”), made with the suffix of the second weak class to the noun *laþō (“invitation”).[1][2] The verb is common Germanic: Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌸𐍉𐌽 (laþōn), Old Norse laða, Old Frisian lathia, Old Saxon lathōn and Old High German ladōn.[2][3][4] The noun survives in Old English in the compound frēondlaþu "friendly invitation".[2]

Orel thinks the noun probably connected with Proto-Slavic *lotiti (“to drive, grasp”).[2] Köbler places it, with a query, under a root Proto-Indo-European *lēi- (“to want”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): the one who knows himself called by the divine voice should "eac cigende & lærende oðre ðider tio & laðige", "also, calling and teaching, draw and invite others thither".[5][6]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller gloss it "to invite, call, call upon": to invite to wine or to a feast, to call someone home, to summon to a synod, to call on gods for help.[7][8] In the Old English Bede it renders Latin "invitare" and "evocare".[7]

It lived on as Middle English lathen, "to invite, summon, urge".[9][1]

Timeline

  • 890×897 – oðre ðider tio & laðige in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[5][6]
  • s. x in. or xi¹ – þonne laþode he hi “then he invited them” to the faith in the Old English Bede.[10][6]
  • s. x² – Hwilum ic rincas laðige to wine “at times I invite men to wine” in a riddle of the Exeter Book.[11][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to invite (to a meal, to a place, to the faith).[7][4]
  2. to call, summon; to call upon.[7][1]

Word family

  • ġelaþian
  • inlaþian
  • laþung

Descendants

  • Middle English lathen (→ English lathe; English laith)[1]

laþian2 to loathe

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
900–950 Old English Orosius
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *laiþaz
Etymology tree of laþian2
inherited borrowed derived
Old English lāþian
English loathe
From the same root · laþian2
English loathing ← loathe

Pronunciation

  • /ˈlɑː.θi.ɑn/, [ˈlɑː.ði.ɑn][1]

Forms

lāþian (weak class 2; third-person singular present lāþaþ, past singular lāþode, past plural lāþodon)[1]

Etymology

The word for "to be hateful" is formed from Old English lāþ (“hateful”) + -ian.[1][3] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Germanic *laiþōną.[1] It matches Old Saxon lēthōn and Old High German leidōn.[7][3]

The adjective lāþ is from Proto-Germanic *laiþaz, whose cognates are Old Norse leiðr (“loathed”), Old Frisian lēth, Old Saxon lēth (“hostile”) and Old High German leid.[12] Orel relates it to Ancient Greek ἀλιταίνω (alitaínō, “to transgress”).[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in the Old English Orosius (Tollemache manuscript, s. x¹ or x²/⁴), used impersonally of a queen: "Þa Cassander þæt geascade þæt hio ðæm folce laðade", "When Cassander learned that she was hateful to the people".[13][6]

Semantic evolution

In Old English the verb means "to be hateful, be loathed", with the person who loathes in the dative: in Ælfric ðǽr láðode sóftnys “softness was hateful there”.[7] Toller's Supplement adds an impersonal construction from Ælfric's Lives of Saints, heom láðode eallum “it was hateful to them all” to rise so often at night.[8] Clark Hall also gives "to hate".[14]

It lived on as Middle English lothe, now English loathe; the main modern sense "to hate, be disgusted with" is recorded from about 1200, and the impersonal use lasted until the sixteenth century.[1][15]

Timeline

  • s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – hio ðæm folce laðade “she was hateful to the people” in the Old English Orosius.[13][6]
  • s. xi in. – heom láðode eallum in Ælfric's Lives of Saints.[16][8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. to be hateful, be loathed (to someone, dative).[7][17]
  2. to hate.[14]

Word family

  • ālāþian

Descendants

  • lǣþan
  • lāþettan

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 237
  3. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 196
  4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. laþian
  5. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
  6. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 623
  8. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 608
  9. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  10. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 531
  11. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 223
  12. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 233
  13. ^ a b Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 249
  14. ^ a b Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 212
  15. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 282
  17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lāþian

Related etymologies

  • witan · also from Proto-Germanic
  • ofer · also from Proto-Germanic
  • of · also from Proto-Germanic
  • boc · also from Proto-Germanic
  • full · also from Proto-Germanic
  • wiþ · also from Proto-Germanic
  • þurh · also from Proto-Germanic
  • -tig · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“Laþian.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/ang/la%C3%BEian. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·