English
los
Los comes from Middle English lusk ‘lynx’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘to be bright, be light, shine’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-1‘to be bright’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*luhsaz2‘lynx’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*luhs2‘lynx’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lox2‘lynx’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lusk2‘lynx’
- Englishearliest quotation 1592los2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *luhsaz
- 2 Wiktionary, English los
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1592, Thomas Thomasius: “A beaſt like unto a wolfe having many ſpottes,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lewk-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *luhsaz‘to be bright’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*luhsazWiktionary, English los‘lynx’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*luhsWiktionary, English los‘lynx’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150loxWiktionary, English los‘lynx’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500luskWiktionary, English los‘lynx’
- Englishearliest quotation 1592losWiktionary, English los. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1592, Thomas Thomasius: “A beaſt like unto a wolfe having many ſpottes,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lewk- ‘to be bright, be light, shine’
light, link, low, lucy, ounce, lunar, luna, lea, illumination, lux, illuminate, lucid, luminous, translucent, lumen, lynx, luce, lumia, luminosity, lum, lune, leucine, luminescent, luminary, luminal, loach, 74 more
through Middle English lusk ‘lynx’
Today it means
noun A medium-sized wildcat, most of them part of the genus Lynx.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “los”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *luhsaz. 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 *lewk- / los