leth

See also: leð, leþ, and leth-

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish laez, from Old Cornish lait, from Proto-Brythonic *llaɨθ, borrowed from Latin lac.

Noun

leth m (plural lethow)

1. milk

Middle English

Noun

leth (plural leþes)

1. Alternative form of lyth

Old Irish

Etymology

From Primitive Irish *ᚂᚓᚈᚐᚄ (*letas), from Proto-Celtic *letos, perhaps cognate with Latin latus (“side”), or from Proto-Celtic *ɸletos.

Celtic cognates include Welsh lled (“breadth, width, half”), Middle Breton let, led (“large”), and Cornish les.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l͈ʲeθ/

Noun

leth n (genitive leith or leithe, nominative plural leth or leithe)

1. half
   • c. 700, Glosses in the Computus Einsidlensis, published in "The early Old Irish material in the newly discovered Computus Einsidlensis (c. AD 700)", Ériu 58 (2008, Royal Irish Academy), edited and with translations by Jacopo Bisagni and Immo Warntjes

     maá triun, laigu leut

     [5/12 is] greater than one third, smaller than one half.

2. direction
3. side

Declension

Especially in meaning "half":

Neuter o-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	lethN	lethN	lethL
Vocative	lethN	lethN	lethL
Accusative	lethN	lethN	lethL
Genitive	leithL	leth	lethN
Dative	leuthL	lethaib	lethaib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Especially in meaning "side":

Neuter s-stem
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	lethN	lethN	leitheL
Vocative	lethN	lethN	leitheL
Accusative	lethN	lethN	leitheL
Genitive	leitheL	leithe	leitheN
Dative	leithL	leithib	leithib
Initial mutations of a following adjective: H = triggers aspiration L = triggers lenition N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: leath
• Manx: lieh
• Scottish Gaelic: leth

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Nasalization
leth also lleth after a proclitic ending in a vowel	leth pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “leth”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

• lēþ

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *laiþ.

Noun

lēth n

1. an evil person or thing

Declension

Declension of lēth (neuter a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	lēth	lēth
accusative	lēth	lēth
genitive	lēthes	lēthō
dative	lēthe	lēthun
instrumental	—	—

Descendants

• Middle Low German: lêt, leit
  • Low German:
    • Westphalian:

      Münsterländisch: leed

      Westmünsterländisch: leed

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish leth, from Proto-Celtic *letos, perhaps cognate with Latin latus (“side”), or from Proto-Celtic *ɸletos.

Celtic cognates include Welsh lled (“breadth, width, half”), Middle Breton let, led (“large”), and Cornish les.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʎe(h)/

Numeral

leth

1. half

Derived terms

• air leth
• às leth
• gu leth
• leisgeul
• leth mar leth
• leth-phinnt

 

Related terms

• leth-

Further reading

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “leth”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎^[1], 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “leth”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English leten, from Old English lǣtan, from Proto-West Germanic *lātan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛt/

Verb

leth

1. let
   • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

     Leth it be; Leth aam.

     Let it be; Let them.

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 53