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Origin and history of loth

loth(adj.)

alternative spelling of loath.

Entries linking to loth

loath(adj.)

Old English lað "hated; hateful; hostile; repulsive," from Proto-Germanic *laitha- (source also of Old Saxon leth, Old Frisian leed "loathsome," Old Norse leiðr "hateful, hostile, loathed;" Middle Dutch lelijc, Dutch leelijk "ugly;" Old High German leid "sorrowful, hateful, offensive, grievous," German leid "hateful, painful"), from PIE root *leit- (1) "to detest."

And niðful neddre, loð an liðer, sal gliden on hise brest neðer [Middle English Genesis and Exodus, c. 1250]

Weakened meaning "averse, disinclined" is attested from late 14c. "Rare in 17th and 18th cents.; revived in the 19th c. as a literary word" [OED]. Loath to depart, a line from some long-forgotten song, is recorded since 1580s as a generic term expressive of any tune played at farewells, the sailing of a ship, etc. French laid, Italian laido "ugly" are from the same Germanic source. The sense "ugly" persisted in English into 15c. in the marriage service, where a man took his wife for fayrer, for layther. Related: Loathness.

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    Trends of loth

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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    averse
    mid-15c., "turned away in mind or feeling, disliking, unwilling," from Old French avers "hostile, antagonistic" and directly from Latin aversus "turned away, turned back," past participle of avertere "to turn away," from ab "off, away from" (see ab-) + vertere "to turn" (see vers
    indisposed
    c. 1400, "unprepared;" early 15c., "not in order," from in- (1) "not" + disposed; or else from Late Latin indispositus "without order, confused." From mid-15c. in English as "diseased;" modern sense of "not very well, slightly ill" is from 1590s. A verb indispose is attested from
    reluctant
    "unwilling, struggling against duty or a command," 1660s, from Latin reluctantem (nominative reluctans), present participle of reluctari "to struggle against, resist, make opposition," from re- "against" (see re-) + luctari "to struggle, wrestle" (see reluctance). Related: Reluct
    lutose
    dirty water; moral filth, disgrace," lymax "rubbish, refuse," lyme "maltreatment, damage;" Latin lues "filth;" Old Irish loth...
    gift
    to Butler's "Hudibras" (1663), where the tight iambic tetrameter required a shorter phrase: He ne'er consider'd it, as loth...
    afflict
    late 14c., "to cast down" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French aflicter, from Latin afflictare "to damage, harass, torment," frequentative of affligere (past participle afflictus) "to dash down, overthrow," from ad "to" (see ad-) + fligere (past participle flictus) "to strike.
    lest
    c. 1200, "that not," especially "for fear that" [OED calls it a negative particle of intention], from a contraction of the Old English phrase þy læs þe "the less that," from þy, instrumental case of demonstrative article þæt "that" + læs (see less) + conjunction þe (see the). The
    sufficient
    "adequate for a purpose, enough," early 14c., from Old French soficient "satisfactory," or directly from Latin sufficientem (nominative sufficiens) "adequate," present participle of sufficere "to supply as a substitute," from sub "up to" (see sub-) + combining form of facere "to
    fret
    Old English fretan "devour, feed upon, consume," from Proto-Germanic compound *fra-etan "to eat up," from *fra- "completely" (from PIE root *per- (1) "forward," hence "through") + *etan "to eat" (from PIE root *ed- "to eat"). Cognates include Dutch vreten, Old High German frezzan
    sheepish
    c. 1200, shepishe, "of, pertaining to, or resembling a sheep" in some perceived characteristic, from sheep + -ish. Originally "meek, modest, docile, simple," often as qualities of good Christians. With suggestions of "easy to deceive" by c. 1400. The sense of "bashful, over-modes

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