lecherous

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lecherous, also spelled leccherous, licherous and lechrous,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French lecheros,^[4][5][6] from lecheor (“lecher”), the source of lecher, and the suffix -eus, English -ous.^[4][7][6] Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com give the form Middle French lechereus.^[7][8][9] The Middle English Dictionary and Etymonline think it more probably formed in English from lechour and lecherie, since the Old French adjective is rare.^[2][10] The Old French agent noun comes from lechier (“to lick; to live in debauchery or gluttony”), modern French lécher (“to lick”),^[4][9][11] which is from Frankish *likkōn,^[9][10] from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”),^[1][12] the source also of lick.^[9][11] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *leigh- (“to lick”),^[10] and Kroonen takes the Germanic verb from a nasal present *liǵʰ-néh₂-, the same formation as Latin lingō (“to lick”).^[12] The Anglo-Norman noun lecherie, lust, is recorded from 1113–19, and the adjective lecher, lewd, from about 1230.^[13] The native form of the same word is lickerish,^[10] and the OED compares lickerous.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Having or showing excessive sexual desire: 1303, in R. Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[4] Etymonline dates it to about 1300,^[10] and the Middle English Dictionary's first quotation, from about 1350, in a Middle English Apocalypse commentary, speaks of "leccherouse men".^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the beginning the word was used of people and animals; from about 1330 it also described acts, thoughts and the heart.^[4][2] By the late 14th century it could describe what incites lust, such as drink, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[4][2] Chaucer used it five times, including "as hoot he was and lecherous as a sparwe" in the General Prologue.^[3][2] Because lechier meant both to live in debauchery and in gluttony, the English adjective was also used for fondness of good living and rich food (1474–1600), a sense more often carried by the related lickerous, which died out in the 17th century.^[4][11][6] Johnson (1755) defined it simply as "lewd; lustful".^[14]

Timeline

• 1303 – lustful, given to lechery.^[4]
• c. 1330 – of acts or thoughts, characterized by lechery.^[4][2]
• before 1382 – of drink, inciting to lechery.^[4]
• 1474 – of food, rich, dainty (obsolete).^[4]
• 1480 – fond of good living, gluttonous (obsolete by 1600).^[4][6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Given to or showing excessive or offensive sexual desire; lustful: a lecherous old landlord.^[7][15][4]
2. Suggesting a lecher: a lecherous wink.^[7][4]
3. Arousing lust; sexually provocative.^[7][4][15]
4. (obsolete, 1480–1600) Fond of good living; gluttonous.^[4][6]

Word family

• lecherously
• lecherousness
• unlecherous

Related words

• lecher
• lechery
• lick
• lickerish

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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)
3. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
10. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
13. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
14. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins