Etymograph

English

loose

Loose comes from Middle English loos, from Old Norse lauss ‘loose, free’, from Proto-Germanic *lausaz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- ‘to loosen’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-1‘to cut, untie, loosen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewHs-1‘to lose’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leusaną1‘to lose’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lausaz1‘loose’reconstructed
  5. Old Norsec. 800–1350lauss1‘loose, free’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500loos1‘loose, free’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1596loose1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English loose
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Canto XI: “he had red her riddle, which no wight Could…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewh₁-Wiktionary, English loose‘to cut, untie, loosen’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewHs-Wiktionary, English loose‘to lose’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leusanąWiktionary, English loose‘to lose’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*lausazWiktionary, English loose‘loose’reconstructed
  5. Old Norsec. 800–1350laussWiktionary, English loose‘loose, free’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500loosWiktionary, English loose‘loose, free’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1596looseWiktionary, English loose. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1596, Edmund Spenser, Book V, Canto XI: “he had red her riddle, which no wight Could…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with loose, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-

  • shamelessly ← shameless ← schameles ← sċamlēas ← *skamulaus

through Proto-Germanic *leusaną ‘to lose, to cease to have’

  • shameless ← schameles ← sċamlēas ← *skamulaus ← *skamōlausaz
  • lorn ← *loren ← *galuzanaz

through Proto-Germanic *lausaz ‘loose, free’

  • lease ← lesen ← lēasian ← lēas ← *laus
  • loess ← Löss ← lösch ← los ← *laus

6 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

verb To let loose, to free from restraints.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “loose”. 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 *lewh₁- / loose