Etymograph

English

loess

Loess comes from German Löss ‘yellowish-gray soil’.

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentLöss1‘yellowish-gray soil’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1951loess1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English loess
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1951, Herbert Hoover, Engineering in China 1899–1902: “The Yellow River—the “Sorrow of China”—comes down from the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Germanc. 1650–presentLössWiktionary, English loess‘yellowish-gray soil’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1951loessWiktionary, English loess. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1951, Herbert Hoover, Engineering in China 1899–1902: “The Yellow River—the “Sorrow of China”—comes down from the…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to cut, sever, separate, loosen, lose’

so, analysis, solution, lose, solve, analyst, sol, paralysis, dialysis, palsy, resolute, insoluble, paralyze, paralytic, lysis, 29 more

through Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-

shamelessly, 2 more

through Proto-Germanic *leusaną ‘to lose’

shameless, lorn, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *lausaz ‘loose, free’

loose, 1 more

through Proto-West Germanic *laus ‘loose, free’

lease

Today it means

noun Any sediment, dominated by silt, of eolian (wind-blown) origin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “loess”. 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 / German Löss / loess

Shirt and support for this word