liesti

Lithuanian

Etymology

From Proto-Baltic *leyt- (whence also Latvian làitît (“to rub, whip, massage, caress”)), of uncertain further origin.^[1]

Buck implicitly derives the Baltic from Proto-Indo-European *h₂leyH- (“to smear”) (by comparing to Latin linō (“to daub, anoint”)), while Chantraine, Pokorny, and Smoczynski tentatively connect the Baltic root to Ancient Greek λίσσομαι (líssomai, “to pray, beseech”),^[2]^[1] with the original form and meaning of the Greek term supposedly being *λιτ-yο-μια (*lit-yo-mia) and "to lovingly caress", from a Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to touch”). Rix favors this derivation, explaining the semantic shift in the Greek as "to touch the knees" > "to beseech"; however, Beekes is skeptical of the semantics.^[3]

Pronunciation

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Verb

liẽsti (third-person present tense liẽčia, third-person past tense liẽtė)

to touch
to disturb

Declension

This entry needs an inflection-table template.

Derived terms

paliẽsti

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007) “liẽsti”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Vilnius: Uniwersytet Wileński, pages 351-2
^ “liesti”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λίσσομαι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 866

[SEJL-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Smoczyński, Wojciech (2007) “liẽsti”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka litewskiego‎^[1] (in Polish), Vilnius: Uniwersytet Wileński, pages 351-2

[2] “liesti”, in Lietuvių kalbos etimologinio žodyno duomenų bazė [Lithuanian etymological dictionary database], 2007–2012

[3] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “λίσσομαι”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 866

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