NODE / 0502reconstructedProto-Indo-European
*legh-
to lie, recline, lay, or set down
- DATE
- Indo-European prehistory
- SENSE
- default
- FAMILY
- Indo-European
- CANONICAL KEY
- node:6:legh:reconstructed
This is distinct from the gather root *leǵ-. A possible connection of Latin lēx to *legh- remains explicitly uncertain.
*This form is reconstructed by comparison. It is not directly attested in this exact written form.
01ANCESTRAL EDGES
ROOT OF THIS ROOT
*THE TRAIL ENDS HERE.No securely reviewed ancestor extends beyond this node. 2 evidence paths stop at this boundary.
INSPECT 2 CITED BOUNDARY CLAIMS
02DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES
THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Proto-Germanic · Proto-Germanic prehistory · laid down order*lagam
a laying down; what is fixed or set
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *lagam reflects an o-grade formation in the PIE *legh- “lie, lay” family.
- MEANING
- The concrete act of laying becomes an established order and law.
- SCHOLAR
- American Heritage · UT LRC · Etymonline editors
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — The broad comparative family is secure; exact intermediate morphology is reconstructed.
DESCENDANTcompeting inheritanceproposed
Latin · Latin antiquitylēx
law, statute, rule, agreement
- SOUND
- A published alternative derives Latin lēx from a laid-down formation in *legh- rather than the gather root *leǵ-.
- MEANING
- What is set or laid down becomes a law; the comparison would reconnect law and legal only at a disputed prehistoric depth.
- CHRONOLOGY
- Latin prehistory; no exact transition date is claimed.
- SCHOLAR
- Calvert Watkins · American Heritage Dictionary editors
- CONFIDENCE
- proposed — The source explicitly calls the route possible but uncertain, and the existing *leǵ- / *sleǵ- route remains published.
DESCENDANTinheritanceprobable
Proto-Germanic · Proto-Germanic prehistory · causative set down*lagojanan
to cause to lie; to lay
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *lagojanan is a causative formation in the PIE *legh- lie-and-lay family.
- MEANING
- A state of lying supplies a causative act of putting or setting down.
- SCHOLAR
- Etymonline · UT LRC editors
- CONFIDENCE
- probable — The comparative family is secure while the intermediate form is reconstructed.
03TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE
EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE
This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.
- UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES
- 16
- REVIEWED EDGES
- 16
- DEEPEST PATH
- 5
- MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
- 4
HISTORICAL STEP 013 EDGES
STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *lagam reflects an o-grade formation in the PIE *legh- “lie, lay” family.
- MEANING
- The concrete act of laying becomes an established order and law.
American Heritage · UT LRC · Etymonline editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 468 ↗ STEP 01competing inheritanceproposed
- SOUND
- A published alternative derives Latin lēx from a laid-down formation in *legh- rather than the gather root *leǵ-.
- MEANING
- What is set or laid down becomes a law; the comparison would reconnect law and legal only at a disputed prehistoric depth.
Calvert Watkins · American Heritage Dictionary editors1 CITATIONEDGE 489 ↗ STEP 01inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Proto-Germanic *lagojanan is a causative formation in the PIE *legh- lie-and-lay family.
- MEANING
- A state of lying supplies a causative act of putting or setting down.
HISTORICAL STEP 024 EDGES
STEP 02derivationestablished
- SOUND
- Latin lēgālis is formed on lēx, leg- “law.”
- MEANING
- The law noun becomes a relational adjective.
STEP 02compound componentestablished
- SOUND
- Latin legislatio contains legis, the genitive of lēx “law”; this path follows the law component while lātio is modeled separately.
- MEANING
- Law is the object being proposed, borne forward, or enacted.
Merriam-Webster · CNRTL · Etymonline editors4 CITATIONSEDGE 455 ↗ STEP 02inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Old Norse lag and lög reflect a reconstructed Germanic *lagam formation in the lay-family.
- MEANING
- A layer, laying, or ordered placement supplies the legal sense “what is laid down.”
American Heritage · UT LRC · Cleasby–Vigfusson2 CITATIONSEDGE 467 ↗ STEP 02inheritanceprobable
- SOUND
- Old English lecgan continues reconstructed Proto-Germanic *lagojanan with West Germanic sound development.
- MEANING
- To cause something to lie yields the transitive verb to lay or set down.
HISTORICAL STEP 034 EDGES
STEP 03borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Anglo-French borrowed Latin lēgālis through regular Romance adaptation.
- MEANING
- Pertaining to law remained the core sense.
STEP 03borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- French législation borrows Medieval or Late Latin legislatio with regular Romance adaptation.
- MEANING
- Proposal or bearing of a law develops into law-making authority and a body of laws.
STEP 03borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- Old English adapts a Scandinavian law-word represented by Old Norse lǫg / lög and lag.
- MEANING
- What is laid down or put in order becomes a prescribed rule and legal institution.
Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 466 ↗ STEP 03inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Old English lecgan continues into Middle English with palatal and spelling developments represented by leggen and leyen.
- MEANING
- The causative set-down meaning remains stable.
Merriam-Webster · Etymonline · American Heritage editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 511 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 044 EDGES
STEP 04borrowingestablished
- SOUND
- English preserved the learned form with later English vowel and stress development.
- MEANING
- The adjective broadened from juridical status to rule-conformity more generally.
STEP 04borrowingprobable
- SOUND
- English legislation borrows French législation with learned English stress and pronunciation.
- MEANING
- The making of laws and the resulting body of laws remain central while legislative-business senses develop.
STEP 04inheritanceestablished
- SOUND
- Old English lagu continues into Middle English with loss of final unstressed -u and spelling variation including laue and lawe.
- MEANING
- Ordinance, rule, and legal order remain central.
Merriam-Webster · Etymonline · UT LRC editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 465 ↗ STEP 04historical continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English leggen / leyen stabilizes as lay while pronunciation and spelling converge on the modern form.
- MEANING
- Putting or setting down remains central while many constructions and figurative uses develop.
Merriam-Webster · Etymonline · American Heritage editors3 CITATIONSEDGE 510 ↗ HISTORICAL STEP 051 EDGE
STEP 05historical continuationestablished
- SOUND
- Middle English lawe / laue stabilizes as law while later English vowel history produces the modern pronunciation.
- MEANING
- The inherited legal-rule sense expands to bodies of law, professions, and regular principles in science.
Merriam-Webster · Etymonline editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 464 ↗ “Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.
04RECORDED EVIDENCE
ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE
NO RECORDED WITNESS ATTACHED.That is expected for a reconstructed form: the node is inferred from comparison, not quoted from a surviving occurrence.
05EDITORIAL REUSE
WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE