Etymograph

English

lorn

Lorn comes from Proto-Germanic *leusaną ‘to lose’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewH- ‘to cut, sever’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewH-1‘to cut, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leusaną1‘to lose’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*galuzanaz1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*loren1reconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lorn1
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1579lorn1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lorn
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1579, Immeritô pseudonym; Edmund Spenser, Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.: “I loue thilke laſſe, (alas why do I loue:)…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewH-Wiktionary, English lorn‘to cut, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*leusanąWiktionary, English lorn‘to lose’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*galuzanazWiktionary, English lornreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150*lorenWiktionary, English lornreconstructed
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lornWiktionary, English lorn
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1579lornWiktionary, English lorn. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1579, Immeritô pseudonym; Edmund Spenser, Ianuarie. Aegloga Prima.: “I loue thilke laſſe, (alas why do I loue:)…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *lewH- ‘to cut, sever’

louse, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *leusaną ‘to lose’

lease, loose, shameless, loess, 3 more

Today it means

adj Doomed; lost.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lorn”. 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 *lewH- / lorn

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