Etymology
1. O.E.
lænan "to lend," from
læn "loan" (see loan). Cognate with Du.
lenen, O.H.G.
lehanon, Ger.
lehnen, also verbs derived from nouns. Past tense form, with terminal
-d, became principal form in M.E. on analogy of
bend, send, etc.
2. From earlier len (with excrescent -d, as in sound), from Middle English lenen, lænen, from Old English lǣnan (“to lend; give, grant, lease”), from Proto-West Germanic *laihnijan, from Proto-Germanic *laihnijaną (“to loan”), from Proto-Germanic *laihną (“loan”), from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave, leave over”).
3. Cognate with Scots len, lend (“to lend”), West Frisian liene (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Dutch lenen (“to lend, borrow, loan”), Danish låne (“to lend, loan”), Swedish låna (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic lána (“to lend, loan”), Icelandic léna (“to grant”), Latin linquō (“quit, leave, forlet”), Ancient Greek λείπω (leípō, “leave, release”). See also loan. See: Proto-Germanic '
*laihnijaną', Dutch '
lenen', Danish '
låne', Swedish '
låna', Icelandic '
lána', Icelandic '
léna', Latin '
linquō', Greek, Ancient '
λείπω'.
Verbs referencing "lend"
Luxembourgish
léinen, Russian
лишить.