leidlich
Appearance
German
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Middle High German līdelich (“patient, enduring”, later also “endurable”). Analysable as leiden (“to suffer”) + -lich (“-ly, -able”); compare similar English sufferable.
There was also another adjective, Middle High German leitlich (“painful, sorrowful”), from Old High German leidlīh, which, at least in spelling, was merged with the above in early modern German and which might have influenced the meaning (though this seems not particularly likely). This latter adjective is cognate with Dutch lelijk (“ugly”), English loathly.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]leidlich (strong nominative masculine singular leidlicher, not comparable)
- (dated) tolerable; passable; mediocre (only just good enough; not good, but not extremely bad either)
- Synonym: (sometimes more positive) passabel
- Er ist ein leidlicher Tennisspieler.
- He’s a mediocre tennis player.
Declension
[edit]Positive forms of leidlich (uncomparable)
Adverb
[edit]leidlich
- (dated) tolerably; passably; halfway; more or less
- Synonyms: einigermaßen, halbwegs
Further reading
[edit]Categories:
- German terms inherited from Middle High German
- German terms derived from Middle High German
- German terms suffixed with -lich
- German terms derived from Old High German
- German 2-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German uncomparable adjectives
- German dated terms
- German terms with usage examples
- German adverbs