Etymograph

English

lauwine

Lauwine comes from German Lawine ‘avalanche’, from Late Latin lābīna ‘a slippery place’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- ‘to hang loosely, be weak’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)leh₂b-1‘to hang loosely, be weak’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElābor2‘to waver, fall’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElābēs3‘fall’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CElābīna3‘a slippery place’
  5. Old High Germanc. 750–1050lowin4
  6. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350lowin4
  7. Alemannic GermanmodernLauwin4
  8. Germanc. 1650–presentLawine3‘avalanche’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1812–1818lauwine3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin labor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin labes
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English lauwine
  4. 4 Wiktionary, German Lawine
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1812–1818, Lord Byron, (please specify |canto=I to IV): “Once more upon the woody Apennine, / The infant…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)leh₂b-Wiktionary, Latin labor‘to hang loosely, be weak’uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElāborWiktionary, Latin labes‘to waver, fall’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElābēsWiktionary, English lauwine‘fall’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CElābīnaWiktionary, English lauwine‘a slippery place’
  5. Old High Germanc. 750–1050lowinWiktionary, German Lawine
  6. Middle High Germanc. 1050–1350lowinWiktionary, German Lawine
  7. Alemannic GermanmodernLauwinWiktionary, German Lawine
  8. Germanc. 1650–presentLawineWiktionary, English lauwine‘avalanche’
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1812–1818lauwineWiktionary, English lauwine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1812–1818, Lord Byron, (please specify |canto=I to IV): “Once more upon the woody Apennine, / The infant…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- ‘to hang loosely, be weak’

relapse, elapse, 3 more

through Latin lābor ‘to waver, fall’

labour, collaboration, laboratory, collapse, elaborate, lapse, laborious, labile, 9 more

through Latin lābēs ‘fall’

lava

Today it means

noun An avalanche.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lauwine”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin labor, Latin labes, German Lawine. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- / lauwine

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