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length

Etymology and origin of the English word length

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 893
Inherited from
Old English lengþu via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic (*langiþō)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /leŋkθ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lengthe,[2][3] inherited from Old English lengþu,[4][2] from Proto-Germanic *langiþō,[4][2][5] an abstract noun from *langaz (“long”), the source of long,[4][2] and the suffix -th.[4][5] It is cognate with Old Frisian lengethe, Dutch lengte and Old Norse lengd.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English lengþu, about 893.[2] The OED's first example, the measure of a thing from end to end, is from 1154.[6]

Semantic evolution

Extent in time, as of a period or a list, is from before 1240,[6] and the quality of being long, as opposed to shortness, from 1388.[6] The sporting sense, the length of a horse or boat as a unit in a race, is from the 1650s.[4] At length, “in full” and “at last”, is from about 1500.[4] The figurative sense “the extreme to which something is carried”, as in go to great lengths, is from the 1690s.[4] In theatre slang a length was 42 lines of an actor's part (1736),[4] and the length of a swimming pool is from 1903.[4] Lengthy was first American English, from 1689.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 893 – Old English lengþu.[2]
  • 1154 – extent from end to end.[6]
  • 1388 – the quality of being long.[6]
  • c. 1500 – at length.[4]
  • 1650s – a horse's length in a race.[4]
  • 1689 – lengthy.[2]
  • 1690s – go to great lengths.[4]
  • 1903 – the length of a pool.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The measurement of something from end to end along its greatest dimension.
  2. The amount of time something lasts; duration.
  3. The quality of being long.
  4. A piece of something of a certain length: a length of rope.
  5. The length of a horse, boat or swimming pool, used as a unit.
  6. lengths: the extent to which one goes to achieve something.

Word family

  • whole-length
  • feature-length
  • floor-length
  • full-length
  • half-length
  • lengthen
  • lengthways
  • lengthwise
  • long
  • lengthy
  • linger
  • longitude

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

  • bosom · also from Old English
  • poppy · also from Old English
  • furlong · also from Old English
  • dwindle · also from Old English
  • daft · also from Old English
  • brazen · also from Old English
  • brat · also from Old English
  • something · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“Length.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/length. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·