Etymology
1. O.E.
læfan "to let remain, remain, bequeath," from P.Gmc.
*laibijan (cf. O.Fris.
leva "to leave," O.S.
farlebid "left over"), causative of
*liban "remain," (cf. O.E.
belifan, Ger.
bleiben, Goth.
bileiban "to remain"), from root
*laf- "remnant, what remains" (see
life, live), from PIE
*lip-/*leip-. The Gmc. root has only the sense "remain, continue," which also is in Gk.
lipares "persevering, importunate." But this usually is regarded as a development from the primary PIE sense of "adhere, be sticky" (cf. Lith.
lipti, O.C.S.
lipet "to adhere," Gk.
lipos "grease," Skt.
rip-/lip- "to smear, adhere to." Seemingly contradictory meaning of "depart" (1225) comes from notion of "to leave behind" (as in
to leave the earth "to die;"
to leave the field "retreat").
2. From Middle English leven, from Old English lǣfan (“to leave”), from Proto-West Germanic *laibijan, from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (“to let stay, leave”), causative of *lībaną (“to stay, remain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick; fat”).
3. Cognate with Old Frisian lēva (“to leave”), dialectal Dutch loven (“to have left over, save, keep”), Old Saxon lēvian, Old High German leiban (“to leave”), Old Norse leifa (“to leave over”) (whence Icelandic leifa (“to leave food uneaten”), Swedish leva (“to leave”)), lifna (“to be left”) (whence Danish levne). More at lave, belive.
4. The noun is attested since the 19th century, with earliest references to billiards. See: Middle English '
leven', Proto-Germanic '
*laibijaną', Dutch '
loven', Old High German 'leiban', Icelandic '
leifa', Swedish '
leva', Danish '
levne'.
Verbs referencing "leave"
Icelandic
leifa, Sranan
libi, Ido livar, Old French
laiier, Polish
lepić, Proto-Slavic
lьnǫti, Proto-Slavic
lěpiti, Russian
ливать.