leg-

To collect; with derivatives meaning “to speak.” Oldest form *leg̑-, becoming *leg- in centum languages.

Derivatives include leech¹, lecture, legend, intelligent, sacrilege, loyal, and logic.

1. Perhaps Germanic *lēkjaz, enchanter, one who speaks magic words. leech¹, from Old English lǣce, physician.

2. lectern, lection, lecture, legend, legible, legion, lesson; coil¹, collect¹, diligent, elect, florilegium, intelligent, neglect, prelect, sacrilege, select, sortilege, from Latin legere, to gather, choose, pluck, read.

3. lexicon, logion, -logue, -logy; alexia, analects, anthology, catalog, dialect, dialogue, dyslexia, eclectic, eclogite, eclogue, horologe, lectotype, prolegomenon, from Greek legein, to gather, speak, with o-grade derivative logos, a gathering, speech (see also 6 below for derivatives independently built to logos).

4. Suffixed form *leg-no-. ligneous, ligni-, from Latin lignum, wood, firewood (< “that which is gathered”).

5. Possibly lengthened-grade form *lēg-.

a. legal, legist, legitimate, lex, loyal; legislator, privilege, from Latin lēx, law (? < “collection of rules”);

b. legacy, legate; colleague, collegial, delegate, relegate, from Latin denominative lēgāre, to depute, commission, charge (< “to engage by contract”). (It is also possible, but uncertain, that Latin lēx comes, like English law, from a form meaning “that which is set or laid down,” from legh-.)

6. Suffixed o-grade form *log-o-. logic, logistic, logo-, Logos, -logy; analogous, apologue, apology, Decalogue, epilogue, homologous, logarithm, paralogism, prologue, syllogism, from Greek logos, speech, word, reason.

 

[Pokorny leg̑- 658.]

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