Etymograph

English

lusk

Lusk comes from Middle English *lusk ‘lynx’, from Old Norse lǫskr ‘weak, idle’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lēyd- ‘to let, subside’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lēyd-1‘to let, subside’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laskwaz1‘sluggish, dull, lazy’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350lǫskr1‘weak, idle’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*lusk1‘lynx’reconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1577lusk1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English lusk
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1577, Timothy Kendall: “But whom he sees to labor prest, theim lets…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*lēyd-Wiktionary, English lusk‘to let, subside’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*laskwazWiktionary, English lusk‘sluggish, dull, lazy’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350lǫskrWiktionary, English lusk‘weak, idle’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*luskWiktionary, English lusk‘lynx’reconstructed
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1577luskWiktionary, English lusk. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1577, Timothy Kendall: “But whom he sees to labor prest, theim lets…”

Linked words

through Old Norse lǫskr ‘weak, idle’

lass

through Middle English *lusk ‘lynx’

los

Today it means

adj Lazy or slothful.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lusk”. 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 *lēyd- / lusk

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