Etymology dictionary
lager (n.) — landslip (n.)
lager (n.)
1858, American English, short for lager beer (1845), from German Lagerbier "beer brewed for keeping" some months before being drunk, from Lager "storehouse" (from Proto-Germanic *legraz, from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay") + Bier "beer."
laggard (adj.)
1702, "slow, sluggish," from lag (v.) + -ard. From 1757 as a noun, "one who lags, a shirker, loiterer." Related: Laggardly.
lagniappe (n.)
also lagnappe, "dividend, something extra, present or extra item given by a dealer to a customer to encourage patronage," 1849, from New Orleans creole, of unknown origin though much speculated upon. Originally a bit of something given by New Orleans shopkeepers to customers. Said to be from American Spanish la ñapa "the gift." Klein says this is in turn from Quechua yapa "something added, gift."
lagoon (n.)
1670s, lagune, earlier laguna (1610s), "area of marsh or shallow, brackish water beside a sea but separated from it by dunes," from French lagune or directly from Italian laguna "pond, lake," from Latin lacuna "pond, hole," from lacus "pond" (see lake (n.1)). Originally in reference to the region of Venice. The word was applied 1769 (by Capt. Cook) to the lake-like stretch of water enclosed in a South Seas atoll. Also see -oon. Related: Lagoonal.
lay (adj.)
"uneducated, non-professional; non-clerical," early 14c., from Old French lai "secular, not of the clergy" (12c., Modern French laïque), from Late Latin laicus, from Greek laikos "of the people," from laos "(the common) folk, the people, the crowd; the military; a tribe," in the New Testament especially "the Jewish people," also "the laity," a word of unknown origin. Beekes writes that it is "most often connected with" Hittite lahh- "campaign" and Old Irish laech "warrior," but that the form "is rather Pre-Greek, and has a Pre-Greek suffix -it(o)-. In Middle English, contrasted with learned, a sense revived 1810 in contrast to expert. Laic is a more modern borrowing directly from Late Latin.
lay (n.1)
"short song," mid-13c., from Old French lai "song, lyric," of unknown origin. Perhaps from Celtic (compare Irish laid "song, poem," Gaelic laoidh "poem, verse, play") because the earliest verses so called were Arthurian ballads, but OED finds this "out of the question" and prefers a theory which traces it to a Germanic source, such as Old High German leich "play, melody, song."
lay (v.)
"to cause to lie or rest," Old English lecgan "to place on the ground (or other surface); place in an orderly fashion," also "put down" (often by striking), from Proto-Germanic *lagojanan (source also of Old Saxon leggian, Old Norse leggja, Old Frisian ledza, Middle Dutch legghan, Dutch leggen, Old High German lecken, German legen, Gothic lagjan "to lay, put, place"), from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay." This is the causative form of the ancient Germanic verb that became modern English lie (v.2).
Meaning "have sex with" first recorded 1934, in U.S. slang, probably from sense of "bring forth and deposit" (which was in Old English, as in lay an egg, lay a bet, etc.), perhaps reinforced by to lie with, a phrase frequently met in the Bible. To lay for (someone) "await a chance at revenge" is from late 15c.; lay low "stay inconspicuous" is from 1839; to lay (someone) low "defeat" (late 14c.) preserves the secondary Old English sense.
lai (n.)
type of medieval poem; see lay (n.).
lay (n.2)
1550s, "act of laying," from lay (v.). From 1580s as "a wager." Meaning "relative position, direction, etc.,; way in which something is laid" (as in lay of the land) first recorded 1819. Slang meaning "line of business" is from 1707. Meaning "woman perceived as available for sex" is attested from 1930, but there are suggestions of it in stage puns from as far back as 1767.
laying (n.)
early 14c., verbal noun from lay (v.).
laic (adj.)
1560s, "belonging to the people" (as distinguished from the clergy and the professionals), from French laïque (16c.), from Late Latin laicus, from Greek laikos "of or belonging to the people," from laos "people" (see lay (adj.)).
laicize (v.)
1856; see laic + -ize. Related: Laicized; laicizing.
laid (adj.)
"put or set down," 17c. adjectival use of past tense and past participle of lay (v.). Laid-up "injured, sick, incapacitated," originally was a nautical term (1769) describing a ship moored in harbor. Laid off "temporarily unemployed" is from 1916 (see layoff). Slang get laid "have sex" (with someone) attested from 1952, American English. Laid-back (adj.) "relaxed" is first attested 1973, perhaps in reference to the posture of highway motorcyclists.
laidly (adj.)
also laithly, c. 1300, Scottish and northern English variant of loathly "hideous, repulsive" (see loath). A word preserved in old ballads; in modern use consciously archaic.
lain
past participle of lie (v.2).
lair (n.)
Old English leger "act or place of lying down; bed, couch; illness; the grave," from Proto-Germanic *legraz (source also of Old Norse legr "the grave," also "nuptials" (both "a lying down"); Old Frisian leger "situation," Old Saxon legar "bed," Middle Dutch legher "act or place of lying down," Dutch leger "bed, camp," Old High German legar "bed, a lying down," German Lager "bed, lair, camp, storehouse," Gothic ligrs "place of lying"), from PIE root *legh- "to lie down, lay." Meaning "animal's den" is from early 15c. Essentially the same word as layer (n.), but more ancient and differentiated in sense.
laird (n.)
"landed proprietor or hereditary estate-holder in Scotland," mid-15c. (mid-13c. as a surname), Scottish and northern England dialectal variant of lord, from Middle English laverd (see lord (n.)). Related: Lairdship.
laissez-faire
also laissez faire, 1822, French, literally "let (people) do (as they think best)," from laissez, second person plural imperative of laisser "to let, to leave" (10c., from Latin laxare, from laxus "loose;" see lax) + faire "to do" (from Latin facere "to make, to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). From the phrase laissez faire et laissez passer, motto of certain 18c. French economists, chosen to express the ideal of government non-interference in business and industry. Compare laisser-faire "a letting alone," taken to mean "non-interference with individual freedom of action" as a policy in government and political economy.
laity (n.)
"body of people not in religious orders," early 15c., from Anglo-French laite, from lay (adj.) + -ity.
lake (n.2)
"deep red coloring matter," 1610s, from French laque (15c., see lac), from which it was obtained.
lake (v.)
"to play, sport," Old English lacan (see lark (n.2)).
lake (n.1)
"body of water surrounded by land and filling a depression or basin," early 12c., from Old French lack (12c., Modern French lac) and directly from Latin lacus "pond, pool, lake," also "basin, tank, reservoir" (related to lacuna "hole, pit"), from PIE *laku- "body of water, lake, sea" (source also of Greek lakkos "pit, tank, pond," Old Church Slavonic loky "pool, puddle, cistern," Old Irish loch "lake, pond"). The common notion is "basin."
There was a Germanic form of the PIE root which yielded Old Norse lögr "sea flood, water," Old English lacu "stream, pool, pond," lagu "sea flood, water, extent of the sea," leccan "to moisten" (see leak (v.)). In Middle English, lake, as a descendant of the Old English word, also could mean "stream; river gully; ditch; marsh; grave; pit of hell," and this might have influenced the form of the borrowed word.
laker (n.)
a word used of people or things associated in various ways with a lake or lakes, including tourists to the English Lake country (1798); the poets (Wordsworth, etc.) who settled in that region (1814); boats on the North American Great Lakes (1887), and a person whose work is on lakes (1838); see lake (n.1). The U.S. professional basketball team began 1947 as the Minneapolis Lakers, where the name was appropriate; before the 1960-1 season it moved to Los Angeles, but kept the name.
Lakshmi
Hindu goddess of beauty, said to be from Sanskrit lakshmi "mark, fortune, riches, beauty."
la-la
syllables used to make nonsense refrains in songs; compare Old English la, a common exclamation; but la-la is imitative of babbling speech in many languages: Greek lalage "babble, prattle," Sanskrit lalalla as an imitation of stammering, Latin lallare "to sing to sleep, lull," German lallen "to stammer," Lithuanian laluoti "to stammer."
lallygag (v.)
"waste time, dilly-dally," 1862, American English; a variant of lollygag. Related: Lallygagged; lallygagging.
lam (v.)
also lamm, "to thrash, beat," 1590s, a slang, provincial or colloquial word, probably from Old Norse lemja "to beat," literally "to lame," which is cognate with the native verb lame (see lame (adj.)). Related: Lammed; lamming.
lam (n.)
"flight, escape," as in on the lam, 1928, in pickpocket slang, (according to OED attested from 1897 in do a lam), from a U.S. slang verb meaning "to run off" (1886), of uncertain origin, but perhaps from lam (v.), which was used in British student slang for "to beat" since 1590s (compare lambaste); if so, the word has the same etymological sense as the slang expression beat it.
lama (n.)
"Buddhist priest of Mongolia or Tibet," 1650s, according to OED from Tibetan blama "chief, high priest," with silent b-. Related: Lamaism; lamarchy. Lamasery "Buddhist monastery" (1849) is from French lamaserie, perhaps a word invented in French, as if from Persian sarai "an inn" (see caravanserai).
Lamarckian (adj.)
"pertaining to the theories or work of French botanist and zoologist Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de Lamarck" (1744-1829). Originally (1825) in reference to his biological classification system. He had the insight, before Darwin, that all plants and animals are descended from a common primitive life-form. But in his view the process of evolution included the inheritance of characteristics acquired by the organism by habit, effort, or environment. The word typically refers to this aspect of his theory, which was long maintained in some quarters but has since been rejected.
Lamaze (adj.)
in reference to a method of childbirth technique, 1957, named for French obstetrician Dr. Fernand Lamaze (1891-1957), who promoted his methods of "psycho-prophylaxis," a form of childbirth preparation he had studied in the Soviet Union, in the West in the early 1950s.
lamb (n.)
Old English lamb, lomb, Northumbrian lemb "lamb," from Proto-Germanic *lambaz (source also of Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Gothic lamb, Middle Dutch, Dutch lam, Middle High German lamp, German Lamm "lamb"). Common to the Germanic languages, but with no certain cognates outside them. The -b has probably been silent since 13c.
The Old English plural was sometimes lambru. A symbol of Christ (Lamb of God), typified by the paschal lamb, from late Old English. Applied to gentle or innocent persons (especially young Church members) from late Old English; from mid-15c. of persons easy to cheat ("fleece"). Also sometimes used ironically for cruel or rough characters (such as Kirke's Lambs in Monmouth's rebellion, 1684-86, "an ironical allusion to the device of the Paschal Lamb on their flag" [OED]); Farmer and Henley ("Slang and Its Analogues") say "specifically applied to Nottingham roughs, and hence to bludgeon men at elections." Diminutive form lambie is attested from 1718. Lamb's-wool is from 1550s as a noun, 1825 (also lambswool) as an adjective.
lambada (n.)
type of sensual Brazilian dance, 1988, from Portuguese, said in some sources to mean literally "a beating, a lashing." But others [Watkins] connect it ultimately to Latin lumbus "loin" (see lumbo-).
lambaste (v.)
1630s, apparently from baste "to thrash" (see baste (v.3)) + the obscure verb lam "to beat, to lame" or the related Elizabethan noun lam "a heavy blow" (implied by 1540s in puns on lambskin). Compare earlier lamback "to beat, thrash" (1580s, used in old plays). A dictionary from c. 1600 defines Latin defustare as "to lamme or bumbast with strokes." Related: Lambasted; lambasting.
lambda (n.)
Greek letter name, from a Semitic source akin to Hebrew lamedh.
lambdacism (n.)
excessive use of the letter -l-, 1650s in writing, 1864 in pronunciation, from lambda + -ism.
lambency (n.)
"quality of shining with a clear, soft light," 1817, from lambent (q.v.) + abstract noun suffix -cy. A figurative use, the etymological Latin sense "act or quality of licking" has been rare in English.
lambent (adj.)
of light, flame, etc., "flowing or running over the surface," 1640s, from a figurative use of Latin lambentem (nominative lambens), present participle of lambere "to lick, lap, wash, bathe," from PIE root *lab-, indicative of smacking lips or licking (source also of Greek laptein "to sip, to lick," Old English lapian "to lick, lap up, to suck;" see lap (v.1)).
Lambert
masc. proper name, from French, from German Lambert, from Old High German Lambreht, from lant "land" (see land (n.)) + beraht "bright" (from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white."). Old English cognate was Landbeorht. The English popularity of the name 12c. and after probably is due to immigration from Flanders, where St. Lambert of Maestricht was highly venerated. Attested as a surname from mid-12c.
Lambeth
used metonymically for "Church of England, Archbishop of Canterbury," 1859, from the archbishop's palace in Lambeth, a South London borough. The place name is Old English lambehyðe, "place where lambs are embarked or landed." In church history, the Lambeth Articles were doctrinal statements written in 1595 by Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift. The Lambeth Walk was a Cockney song and dance, popularized in Britain 1937 in the revue "Me and my Gal," named for a street in the borough.
lambic (n.)
also lambick, kind of strong Belgian beer, 1829, related to French alambic "a still" (see alembic).
lambkin (n.)
1570s, "little lamb" (mid-13c. as a surname), from lamb + diminutive suffix -kin.
lambskin (n.)
"wooly skin of a lamb, used in dress or ornament," mid-14c., from lamb + skin (n.).
lame (n.)
also lamé, "silk interwoven with metallic threads," 1918, from a specialized sense of French lame, which generally meant "thin metal plate (especially in armor), gold wire; blade; wave (of the sea)," from Old French lame "thin strip, panel, blade, sheet, slice" (13c.), from Latin lamina, lamna "thin piece or flake of metal" (see laminate (v.)). The same French word was used in English earlier in armory as "a plate of metal" (1580s).
lameness (n.)
1520s, from lame (adj.) + -ness.
lamely (adv.)
1590s, from lame (adj.) + -ly (2).
lame (v.)
"to make lame," c. 1300, from Proto-Germanic *lamejanan (source also of Old Saxon lemon, Old Frisian lema, Dutch verlammen, German lähmen, Old Norse lemja "thrash, flog, beat; to lame, disable"), from the root of lame (adj.). Related: Lamed; laming.
lame (adj.)
Old English lama "crippled, lame; paralytic, weak," from Proto-Germanic *lama- "weak-limbed" (source also of Old Norse lami "lame, maimed," Dutch and Old Frisian lam, German lahm "lame"), literally "broken," from PIE root *lem- "to break; broken," with derivatives meaning "crippled" (source also of Old Church Slavonic lomiti "to break," Lithuanian luomas "lame").
In Middle English especially "crippled in the feet," but also "crippled in the hands; disabled by disease; maimed." Figurative sense of "imperfect" is from late 14c. Sense of "socially awkward" is attested from 1942. Noun meaning "crippled persons collectively" is in late Old English. To come by the lame post (17c.-18c.) was an old colloquialism in reference to tardy mails or news out-of-date.
lame-brain (n.)
"stupid person," 1921, from lame (adj.) + brain (n.).
lame duck (n.)
1761, "any disabled person or thing;" especially Stock Exchange slang for "defaulter."
Sometimes also in naval use for "an old, slow ship." Modern sense of "public official serving out term after an election" is recorded by 1863, American English. The quote attributed to President Lincoln ("[A] senator or representative out of business is a sort of lame duck. He has to be provided for") is from an anecdote of 1878.
lamentation (n.)
late 14c., from Old French lamentacion "lamentation, plaintive cry," and directly from Latin lamentationem (nominative lamentatio) "a wailing, moaning, a weeping," noun of action from past-participle stem of lamentari "to wail, moan, weep," from lamentum "a wailing," from an extended form of PIE root *la- "to shout, cry," which probably is imitative. De Vaan compares Sanskrit rayati "barks," Armenian lam "to weep, bewail;" Lithuanian loti, Old Church Slavonic lajati "to bark, scold;" Gothic lailoun "they scolded."
It replaced Old English cwiþan. The biblical book of Lamentations (late 14c.) is short for Lamentations of Jeremiah, from Latin Lamentationes (translating Greek Threnoi), from lamentatio "a wailing, moaning, weeping."
lamentable (adj.)
c. 1400, "sad, sorrowful," from Latin lamentabilis "full of sorrow, mournful; lamentable, deplorable," from lamentari "to wail, moan, weep" (see lamentation). Early 15c. as "distressing, grievous." Related: Lamentably.
lament (n.)
1590s, "expression of sorrow or grief," from French lament and directly from Latin lamentum "a wailing, moaning, weeping" (see lamentation). From 1690s as "a mourning song."
lamented (adj.)
"mourned for," 1610, past-participle adjective from lament (v.).
lament (v.)
mid-15c., back-formation from lamentation or else from Old French lamenter "to moan, bewail" (14c.) and directly from Latin lamentari "to wail, moan, weep, lament," from lamentum "a wailing, moaning, weeping." Related: Lamented; lamenting.
lamia (n.)
female demon, late 14c., from Latin lamia "witch, sorceress, vampire," from Greek lamia "female vampire, man-eating monster," literally "swallower, lecher," from laimos "throat, gullet" (see larynx). Perhaps cognate with Latin lemures "spirits of the dead" (see lemur) and, like it, borrowed from a non-IE language. Used in early translations of the Bible for screech owls and sea monsters. In Middle English also sometimes, apparently, mermaids:
lamination (n.)
1670s, "action of beating into thin plates," noun of action from laminate (v.). Meaning "any layer of laminated substance" is from 1858; meaning "process of manufacturing laminated products" is from 1945.
laminate (v.)
1660s, "to beat or roll into thin plates," from Latin lamina "thin piece of metal or wood, thin slice, plate, leaf, layer," a word of unknown origin; de Vaan writes that "The only serious etymology offered is a connection with latus 'wide' ...." Many modern senses in English are from the noun meaning "an artificial thin layer" (1939), especially a type of plastic adhesive. Related: Laminated; laminating; laminable.
laminate (n.)
"artificial thin layer," 1939, especially a type of plastic adhesive; see laminate (v.).
laminar (adj.)
"made or arranged in layers," 1811, from Latin lamina "thin plate, slice, layer" (see laminate (v.)) + -ar.
Lammas (n.)
Aug. 1 harvest festival with consecration of loaves, Old English hlafmæsse, literally "loaf mass," from hlaf (see loaf (n.)) + mæsse (see mass (n.2)). Altered by influence of lamb and from late 15c.-17c. occasionally spelled lambmas.
lamp (n.)
c. 1200, "vessel containing flammable liquid and a wick to lift it by capillary action when lit," from Old French lampe "lamp, lights" (12c.), from Latin lampas "a light, torch, flambeau," from Greek lampas "a torch, oil-lamp, beacon-light, light," from lampein "to shine," perhaps from a nasalized form of PIE root *lehp- "to light, glow" (source also of Lithuanian lopė "light," Hittite lappzi "to glow, flash," Old Irish lassar "flame," Welsh llachar "glow").
Replaced Old English leohtfæt "light vessel." From 19c. in reference to gas and later electric lamps. To smell of the lamp "be a product of laborious night study," said disparagingly of a literary work, is attested from 1570s (compare midnight oil). The Greek stem lampad- formed a number of compounds, some in English, such as lampadomancy (1650s) "divination from variations in the flame of a lamp."
lamp-black (n.)
pigment or ink made with pure, fine carbon, originally from the soot produced by burning oil in lamps, 1590s, see lamp (n.) + black (n.).
lamplight (n.)
also lamp-light, "the light shown by lamps," late 14c., from lamp + light (n.). Related: Lamplighter (1750).
lampoon (n.)
"A personal satire; abuse; censure written not to reform but to vex" [Johnson], 1640s, from French lampon (17c.), a word of unknown origin, said by French etymologists to be from lampons "let us drink," which is said to have been a popular refrain for scurrilous songs, in which case it would be originally a drinking song. French lampons is from lamper "to drink, guzzle," a nasalized form of laper "to lap," from a Germanic source akin to lap (v.). Also see -oon.
lampoon (v.)
1650s, from lampoon (n.), or else from French lamponner, from the French noun. Related: Lampooned; lampooning.
lamp-post (n.)
also lamppost, 1731, from lamp + post (n.1).
lamprey (n.)
c. 1300 (perhaps c. 1200 as a surname), from Old French lamproie "lamprey" (12c.), from Medieval Latin lampreda, from Late Latin lampetra "lamprey," a word of uncertain origin, usually explained as literally "lick-rock," from Latin lambere "to lick" (see lap (v.1)) + petra "rock" (see petrous), but this might be folk etymology. The animals attach themselves with sucker-like mouths.
lamp-shade (n.)
also lampshade, 1829, from lamp + shade (n.).
lamp-stand (n.)
1848, from lamp (n.) + stand (n.).
lamp-wick (n.)
1832, from lamp (n.) + wick (n.).
lance (n.)
late 13c. (late 12c. as a surname), from Old French lance "spear, lance, lance-length" (12c.), from Latin lancea "light spear, Spanish lance" (Italian lancia, Spanish lanza), a word said by Varro to be of Spanish origin, hence possibly from Celt-Iberian. The French word spread generally into the Germanic languages: German Lanze, Middle Dutch lanse, Dutch lans, Danish landse.
Lance corporal "private soldier performing the duties of a corporal" (1786) is a folk-etymology or partial nativizing of obsolete lancepesade "officer of lowest rank" (1570s), which is an Englishing of Old Italian lancia spezzata "old soldier," literally "broken lance."
lance (v.)
"to pierce with a lance," c. 1300, from Old French lancier "to throw forward, hurl, dash; attack with a lance," from Late Latin lanceare "wield a lance; pierce with a lance," from lancea (see lance (n.)). The surgical sense (properly with reference to a lancet) is from late 15c. Related: Lanced; lancing.
Lancaster
1086, Loncastre, literally "Roman Fort on the River Lune," a Celtic river name probably meaning "healthy, pure." In English history, the Lancastrians or House of Lancaster in the War of the Roses were the branch of the Plantagenets descended from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. Lancastrian (1650s) is the usual adjective with places of that name; Lancasterian (1807) was used of the teaching methods popularized early 19c. by educator Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838).
Lancelot
masc. proper name, Old French, a double-diminutive of Frankish Lanzo, itself a shortened pet-name (hypocoristic) of one of the many Germanic names in Land- (compare Old English Landbeorht "land-bright;" see Lambert).
lanceolate (adj.)
"shaped like a lance-head," 1751, from Late Latin lanceolatus "armed with a little lance," from Latin lanceola, diminutive of lancea (see lance (n.)).
lancer (n.)
1580s, "soldier armed with a lance," from French lancier "soldier, knight armed with a lance," from Old French lance (see lance (n.)).
lancet (n.)
"small, sharp surgical instrument," late 14c., launcet, from Old French lancette "small lance" (12c.), diminutive of lance (see lance (n.)).
landed (adj.)
"possessed of land," late Old English gelandod; see land (n.).
land (v.1)
Old English lendan "to bring to land" (transitive), early 13c., from the source of land (n.). Intransitive sense "come to shore, go ashore, disembark" is from c. 1200. Spelling and pronunciation probably were influenced by the noun. Originally of ships; of fish, in the angling sense, from 1610s; hence figurative sense of "to obtain" (a job, etc.), first recorded 1854. Of aircraft, attested from 1916. Related: Landed; landing.
land (n.)
Old English lond, land, "ground, soil," also "definite portion of the earth's surface, home region of a person or a people, territory marked by political boundaries," from Proto-Germanic *landja- (source also of Old Norse, Old Frisian Dutch, Gothic land, German Land), perhaps from PIE *lendh- (2) "land, open land, heath" (source also of Old Irish land, Middle Welsh llan "an open space," Welsh llan "enclosure, church," Breton lann "heath," source of French lande; Old Church Slavonic ledina "waste land, heath," Czech lada "fallow land"). But Boutkan finds no IE etymology and suspects a substratum word in Germanic,
Etymological evidence and Gothic use indicates the original Germanic sense was "a definite portion of the earth's surface owned by an individual or home of a nation." The meaning was early extended to "solid surface of the earth," a sense which once had belonged to the ancestor of Modern English earth (n.). Original senses of land in English now tend to go with country. To take the lay of the land is a nautical expression. In the American English exclamation land's sakes (1846) land is a euphemism for Lord.
land (v.2)
"to make contact, to hit home" (of a blow, etc.), by 1881, perhaps altered from lend (v.) in a playful sense, or else a sense extension of land (v.1).
landing (n.)
c. 1600, "place on a shore where persons or goods are landed from boats," verbal noun from land (v.1). In architecture, "part of a floor adjoining a flight of stairs," also "resting place interrupting a flight of stairs," 1789. Landing place is from 1510s.
landau (n.)
type of two-seated, four-wheeled carriage, 1743, from Landau, town in Bavaria where they first were made. The first element is the common Germanic element found in English land (n.); the identity of the second is disputed. But Klein says the vehicle name is "in reality" Spanish lando "originally a light four-wheeled carriage drawn by mules," from Arabic al-andul. "These [landaus] are complex in construction and liable to get out of order, which prevents their popular use" [Henry William Herbert ("Frank Forester"), "Hints to Horse-Keepers," New York, 1859].
landfall (n.)
"sighting of land," 1620s, also "the first land 'made' on a sea voyage" (1883); from land (n.) + fall (v.) in the sense of "happen." A word from the days of imprecise nautical navigation.
Of hurricanes, by 1932.
landfill (n.)
1916, from land (n.) + fill (n.). A euphemism for dump (n.).
landform (n.)
1889 (earlier in German); see land (n.) + form (n.). Perhaps immediately from German Landform.
landlady (n.)
"woman who owns a house or land occupied by tenants, 1520s, from land (n.) + lady.
landline (n.)
also land-line, by 1861, originally a telegraph wire run over land (as opposed to under sea); from land (n.) + line (n.). Later (by 1965), a telephone line which uses wire or some other material (distinguished from a radio or cellular line).
landlocked (adj.)
also land-locked, "almost shut in by land," 1620s, from land (n.) + past participle of lock (v.).
landlord (n.)
early 15c. (late 13c. as a surname), "owner of a tenement, one who rents land or property to a tenant," from land (n.) + lord (n.).
landlubber (n.)
also land-lubber, "A useless long-shorer; a vagrant stroller. Applied by sailors to the mass of landsmen, especially those without employment" [W.H. Smyth, "The Sailor's Word-book"], c. 1700, from land (n.) + lubber (q.v.).
landmark (n.)
Old English landmearc "object set up to mark the boundaries of a kingdom, estate, etc.," from land (n.) + mearc in its sense "object which marks a boundary or limit" (see mark (n.1)). General sense of "conspicuous object which, by its known position, serves as a guide to a traveler," originally especially an object that can be seen from sea, is from 1560s. Modern figurative sense of "event, etc., considered a high point in history" is from 1859.
landmine (n.)
also land-mine, "explosive device placed on the ground (or just under it) as a weapon," 1871, from land (n.) + mine (n.2).
landowner (n.)
also land-owner, 1733, from land (n.) + owner.
landscaping (n.)
"art of laying out grounds and arranging plants and trees for picturesque effect," by 1861, verbal noun from landscape (v.). Earlier in the same sense was landscape-gardening (1763).
Also, in reference to the visual arts, "depiction as a landscape" (1868).
landscape (n.)
c. 1600, "painting representing an extensive view of natural scenery," from Dutch landschap "landscape," in art, a secondary sense from Middle Dutch landscap "region," from land "land" (see land) + -scap "-ship, condition" (see -ship).
A painters' term; the non-artistic meaning "tract of land with its distinguishing characteristics" is an extended sense from 1886. Similar formation in Old English landscipe "region," Old High German lantscaf, German Landschaft, Old Norse landskapr, Danish landskab "a region, district, province." Skyscape is attested by 1817.
landscape (v.)
"to lay out lawns, gardens, etc., plant trees for the sake of beautification," by 1916, from landscape (n.) in its non-artistic sense. Earlier it was used in an artistic sense, "to represent in a landscape setting" (1660s). Related: Landscaped; landscaping.
land-shark (n.)
"person who cheats or robs sailors ashore," 1769, from land (n.) + shark (n.). Smyth ("Sailor's Word-book," 1867) lists the types as "Crimps, pettifogging attorneys, slopmongers, and the canaille infesting the slums of seaport towns." As "land-grabber, speculator in real estate" from 1839. In both senses often in Australian and New Zealand publications during 19c.
landslide (n.)
also land-slide, 1841, "fall or down-slide of a mass of rock, earth, etc. from a slope or mountain," American English, from land (n.) + slide (n.). Earlier was landslip (1670s), which is preferred in Britain. Old English used eorðgebyrst in this sense; literally "earth-burst." Landslide in the political sense "lopsided electoral victory" is attested from 1888.