Etymograph

English

lidden

Lidden comes from Middle English leden ‘Latin (language)’, from Old English lēod ‘people’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ- ‘to grow (up)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁lewdʰ-1‘to grow (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁léwdʰis1‘people’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*liudiz2‘man, person’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*liudi2‘man, person’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēod3‘people’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēoden4‘speech, language’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500leden4‘Latin (language)’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1905lidden4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *liudiz
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old English leod
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English leoden
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English lidden
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1905, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Frenchman's Creek: “She kept up this lidden all through breakfast, and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁lewdʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *liudiz‘to grow (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁léwdʰisWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *liudiz‘people’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*liudizWiktionary, Old English leod‘man, person’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*liudiWiktionary, Old English leod‘man, person’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēodWiktionary, Old English leoden‘people’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150lēodenWiktionary, English lidden‘speech, language’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ledenWiktionary, English lidden‘Latin (language)’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1905liddenWiktionary, English lidden. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1905, Arthur Quiller-Couch, Frenchman's Creek: “She kept up this lidden all through breakfast, and…”

The story

Alternative etymology derives lidden from Old English hlȳd, hlȳden (‘sound, noise, clamour, din’) or Old Norse hljóð (‘sound, clap, roar, ringing, tone, tune’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₁lewdʰ- ‘to grow (up)’

liberal, liberty, liberation, liberate, liberator, libre, libertine, libero, 12 more

through Middle English leden ‘Latin (language)’

lead, leed, 2 more

Today it means

noun A noise or din.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lidden”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *liudiz, Old English leod, Old English leoden. 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 *h₁lewdʰ- / lidden

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