Etymograph

English

lobe

Lobe comes from Middle French lobe, from New Latin lobus ‘a lobe’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leb- ‘to hang loosely’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leb-1‘to hang loosely’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lobós1uncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lobós1uncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλοβός2lobós‘the lobe of the ear or of the liver, the pod of a leguminous plant’
  5. New Latinc. 1500–1900lobus2‘a lobe’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600lobe2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1958lobe2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λοβός
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English lobe
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, Chinua Achebe, London: Heinemann: “He then broke the kola nut and threw one…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leb-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek λοβός‘to hang loosely’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lobósWiktionary, Ancient Greek λοβόςuncertain
  3. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lobósWiktionary, Ancient Greek λοβόςuncertain
  4. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλοβόςWiktionary, English lobelobós‘the lobe of the ear or of the liver, the pod of a leguminous plant’
  5. New Latinc. 1500–1900lobusWiktionary, English lobe‘a lobe’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600lobeWiktionary, English lobe
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1958lobeWiktionary, English lobe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, Chinua Achebe, London: Heinemann: “He then broke the kola nut and threw one…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *leb- ‘to hang loosely’

la, lap, lip, label, limp, limbo, labia, labrum, lave, 14 more

Today it means

noun Any projection or division, especially one of a somewhat rounded form.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lobe”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Ancient Greek λοβός. 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 *leb- / lobe

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