lithe

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /laɪð/, SAMPA: /laID/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪð

Etymology 1

From Middle English lithen, from Old English līþan (“to go, travel, sail, be bereft of”), from Proto-Germanic *līþanan (“to go, leave, suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *leit- (“to go, depart, die”). Cognate with North Frisian lyen, lye (“to suffer”), Dutch lijden (“to suffer, dree, abide”), German leiden (“to suffer, brook, permit”). See also lode, lead.

Verb

lithe (third-person singular simple present lithes, present participle lithing, simple past lithed or lode, past participle lithed or lidden)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To go.

Etymology 2

From Middle English, from Old English līþe (“gentle, mild”), from Proto-Germanic *linþiz, from Proto-Indo-European *lento. Akin to Danish and German lind (“mild”), Icelandic linr (“soft to the touch”). Not attested in Gothic nor Old Norse. Some sources list also Latin lenis (“soft”), others Latin lentus (“supple”).

Adjective

lithe (comparative lither, superlative lithest)

1. (obsolete) Mild; calm.

   lithe weather

2. Capable of being easily bent; pliant; flexible; limber

   the elephant’s lithe proboscis.

   • 1861, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Elsie Venner, page 125

     … she danced with a kind of passionate fierceness, her lithe body undulating with flexuous grace …

Synonyms

• lithesome, lissome

Translations

mild, calm

Swedish: lugn (sv)

flexible

Dutch: soepel (nl)

French: souple (fr) m. and f.

Etymology 3

From Middle English lithen, from Old English līþian, līþiġian (“to soften, calm, mitigate, assuage, appease, be mild”), from Proto-Germanic *linþēnan, *lenþēnan (“to soften”), from Proto-Indo-European *lento- (“bendsome, resilient”).

Verb

lithe

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To become calm.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To make soft or mild; soften; alleviate; mitigate; lessen; smooth; palliate.

Etymology 4

From Middle English lithen, from Old Norse hlýða (“to listen”), from Proto-Germanic *hleuþijanan (“to listen”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlewe- (“to hear”). Cognate with Danish lytte (“to listen”). Related to Old English hlēoþor (“noise, sound, voice, song, hearing”), Old English hlūd (“loud, noisy, sounding, sonorous”). More at loud.

Verb

lithe (third-person singular simple present lithes, present participle lithing, simple past and past participle lithed)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To give ear; attend; listen.
2. (transitive) To listen to.

Anagrams

• lieth, Theil