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START / NODE 302GermanPresent-day German
lieb
The German adjective for dear, beloved, kind, or welcome, inherited through Middle High German liep and Old High German liob from the Germanic adjective branch also represented by Dutch lief and Gothic liufs.
“German lieb is older than the modern noun Liebe. Liebe belongs to an abstract-noun formation built within the same family; lieb is not a clipping of it.”OPEN COMPLETE WORD DOSSIER ↗
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01
PARENT ROUTES1 REVIEWED RELATIONSHIP
Germanlieb
dear, beloved, kind, pleasant, welcome
↑GO DEEPER
Middle High German · Middle High Germanliepdear, beloved, pleasing
- SOUND CHANGE
- Middle High German liep continues into modern German lieb through regular final devoicing in pronunciation and later spelling standardization.
- SEMANTIC CHANGE
- The inherited field of dear, beloved, pleasing, and welcome remains productive, with later kind or well-behaved uses in particular contexts.
- SCHOLAR
- Dudenredaktion
- CONFIDENCE
- established — Duden explicitly supplies the Middle High German form and the modern adjective’s living senses.
- CHRONOLOGY
- Middle High German to present-day German.
THE ASTERISK IS A PROMISE
RECONSTRUCTION IS
NOT INSCRIPTION.
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