leicht

Forms

leicht (strong nominative masculine singular leichter, comparative leichter, superlative am leichtesten)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German līht(e), inherited from Old High German līhti, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *lį̄ht, inherited from Proto-Germanic *linhtaz (“light in weight”).^[2][3][1] The same adjective is Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌷𐍄𐍃 (leihts), Old Norse léttr, Old English lēoht, Old Frisian līchte and Old Saxon līht-, and today Dutch licht, English light and Swedish lätt.^[2][3][4]

Pfeifer explains the Germanic long vowel as the result of a lost nasal with compensatory lengthening, from a form with /n/ before /h/.^[3] Outside Germanic the word has relatives without the t-suffix: Sanskrit लघु (laghú, “light, easy, small”), Ancient Greek ἐλαχύς (elakhús, “small, slight”), Lithuanian leñgvas (“light”) and Latin levis (“light”), and Pfeifer adds Old Church Slavonic льгъкъ (lĭgŭkŭ) and Russian лёгкий (ljógkij).^[2][3] Kluge traces the Germanic form to an old consonant stem and the others to a u-stem of the same root;^[2] Wiktionary sets it up as Proto-Indo-European *h₁lengʷʰ- (“lightweight; swift”), and Pfeifer as a nasalised variant of Proto-Indo-European *legu̯h- (“light in movement and weight”).^[1][3] The Grimms' dictionary concludes from the cognates that the sense grew out of the idea of “small, slight”.^[5]

Duden and Paul connect the root with gelingen, and Pfeifer also with Lunge and lungern;^[6][7][3] Kluge allows the link in principle but notes that the verb is found only in German, which speaks against it.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German līhti is first recorded in glosses of 765, and the shorter līht from the 11th century; it occurs in Notker, Otfrid and Tatian.^[8][3][9] Its senses were “light, slight, of little weight” and also “frivolous, unsteady”.^[9][8]

Semantic evolution

Paul notes that leicht follows schwer through almost every shade of meaning.^[7] From physical weight it moved to things that are light to bear, then to “not difficult”, and also to “slight, minor” (a light rain, a slight doubt) and to food and cigarettes that are easy on the body.^[7][4] Older German also used it for “perhaps”, like vielleicht, and in Early New High German it described coins of low gold or silver weight, and so “cheap”.^[7][10] The adverb leichtlich “easily, readily” was common in the 16th and 17th centuries and was still used by Goethe.^[7]

What is not weighed down can also be called light, as in a light heart or a light mind, and this gave the compounds leichtfertig, in Middle High German “quick in movement”, later “careless”, and leichtsinnig, which meant “cheerful, carefree” in the 16th century and “thoughtless” from the 17th.^[7][3] In Austria and Bavaria leicht is also a modal particle in questions, expressing surprise or suspicion.^[1]

Timeline

• 765 – Old High German līhti appears in glosses.^[8]
• 11th century – The short form līht is recorded.^[3]
• c. 1000 – The verb līhterōn “to make lighter”, formed from the comparative, appears.^[3]
• 16th century – leichtgläubig “credulous” and leichtsinnig “carefree” are recorded.^[3]
• 17th century – leichtsinnig takes on the sense “thoughtless, reckless”.^[3]
• 18th century – Leichtsinn gradually displaces Leichtsinnigkeit.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of little weight, not heavy.^[11][1]
2. Not heavy in build: thin (of clothing), not massive (of buildings), small-calibre (of weapons).^[11]
3. Nimble, agile, graceful in movement.^[11]
4. Easy, not difficult, needing little effort.^[11][1]
5. Slight, of small degree.^[1][12]
6. Low in calories, easy to digest (of food).^[1][12]

Adverb

1. Slightly.^[1]
2. Easily, readily.^[1][7]
3. (Austria, Bavaria) In questions, a modal particle of surprise or suspicion: really, perhaps.^[1]

Word family

• leichtfertig
• leichtgläubig
• Leichtsinn
• leichtsinnig
• Leichtigkeit
• kinderleicht
• Leichtathletik
• Leichtmetall

Related words

• erleichtern
• Leichtheit
• gelingen
• Lunge
• lungern
• English light

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 e Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 569
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
4. ^ a b Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities
5. ^ Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 12, 629
6. ^ Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2020), 6th ed., Duden vol. 7, Berlin: Dudenverlag, p. 505
7. ^ a b c d e f g Paul, Hermann (2002), Deutsches Wörterbuch: Bedeutungsgeschichte und Aufbau unseres Wortschatzes, 10th ed., ed. Helmut Henne, Heidrun Kämper and Georg Objartel, Tübingen: Niemeyer
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b Schützeichel, Rudolf (2012), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 7th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 201
10. ^ Anderson, Robert R.; Goebel, Ulrich; Reichmann, Oskar, eds. (1989–), Frühneuhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter; FWB-online, fwb-online.de
11. ^ a b c d Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
12. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org