Etymology
1. O.E.
liccian "to lick," from P.Gmc.
*likkon (cf. Du.
likken, Ger.
lecken, Goth.
bi-laigon), from PIE imitative base
*leigh- (cf. Skt.
ledhi "he licks," Arm.
lizum "I lick," Gk.
leikhein "to lick," L.
lingere "to lick," O.Ir.
ligim "I lick," Welsh
llwy "spoon"). Fr.
lecher is a Gmc. loan word. Sense of "a blow, stroke" first recorded 1678 from verb sense of "to beat," first attested 1535, which may be from its use in the Coverdale bible that year in sense of "defeat, annihilate" (an enemy's forces) in Num. xxii.4:
"Now shal this heape licke up all that is about vs, euen as an oxe licketh vp the grasse in the field."
But to
lick (of) the whip "taste punishment" is attested from c.1460.
Lickspittle "sycophant" is attested from 1825. To
lick (someone or something) into shape (1612) is in ref. to the supposed ways of bears:
"Beres ben brought forthe al fowle and transformyd and after that by lyckyng of the fader and the moder they ben brought in to theyr kyndely shap." ["The Pylgremage of the Sowle," 1413]
2. From Middle English likken, from Old English liccian, from Proto-West Germanic *likkōn, from Proto-Germanic *likkōną (“to lick”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”). Sense evolution towards violence unclear; not paralleled in any other Germanic language.
3. Cognates
4. Cognate with Dutch lekken, likken (“to lick”), German lecken (“to lick”), Vilamovian łaekia, łakia, łȧḱkja (“to lick”), Yiddish לעקן (lekn, “to lick”), French lécher (“to lick”), Friulian lecâ (“to lick”), Italian leccare (“to lick”), Lombard leccà (“to lick”), Norman litchi (“to lick”), Occitan lecar (“to lick”); also Faroese and Icelandic sleikja (“to lick”), Breton leat (“to lick”), Irish and Scottish Gaelic ligh (“to lick”), Welsh llyfu (“to lick”), Latin lingō (“to lick”), Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō, “to lick up”), Latvian làizît (“to lick”), Lithuanian laižyti (“to lick”), Bulgarian ли́жа (líža, “to lick”), Czech lízat (“to lick”), Macedonian лиже (liže, “to lick”), Polish lizać (“to lick”), Russian лиза́ть (lizátʹ, “to lick”), Serbo-Croatian ли́зати, lízati (“to lick”), Slovene lizati (“to lick”), Ukrainian лиза́ти (lyzáty, “to lick”), Armenian լիզել (lizel, “to lick”), Central Kurdish لستن (listin, “to lick”), Northern Kurdish alastin, alêstin, alistin, alîstin (“to lick”), Persian لیسیدن (lēsīdan / lisidan, “to lick”), Sanskrit लिह् (lih), रिह् (rih, “to lick; to eat”). See: Middle English '
likken', Old English '
liccian', Proto-Germanic '
*likkōną', Dutch '
lekken', German, old spelling '
lecken', Wymysorys '
łaekia', French '
lécher', Friulian '
lecâ', Italian '
leccare', Occitan '
lecar', Breton '
leat', Welsh '
llyfu', Latin '
lingō', Lithuanian '
laižyti', Bulgarian '
ли́жа', Czech '
lízat', Macedonian '
лиже', Polish '
lizać', Russian '
лиза́ть', Slovene '
lizati', Ukrainian '
лиза́ти', Armenian '
լիզել', Sanskrit '
लिह्'.
Verbs referencing "lick"
Latin
lingo, German, old spelling
lecken, French
lécher, Italian
leccare, Irish
ligh, Friulian
lecâ.