Contextualizebeta

lither

adj
/ˈlɪðə/UK/ˈlɪðɚ/US/ˈlaɪðə/UK/ˈlaɪðɚ/US

Etymology

From Middle English lither, lyther (“deceitful; evil; false; treacherous; sinful, wicked; leading to cruelty, injustice, or wickedness, perverted; of a country: filled with wicked people; cruel, fierce; dangerous, deadly; frightening; grievous, painful; harmful, injurious; miserable, paltry, poor, worthless; feeble, sluggish; cowardly”) [and other forms], from Old English lȳþre (“bad, wicked; base, mean, wretched; corrupt”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *lūþrijaz (“bad; dissolute; neglected; useless”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lew- (“limp, slack”). Sense 1.2 (“flexible, supple; agile, lithe”) is influenced by lithe. Cognates Dutch lodder (“wanton person”), loddering (“drowsy; trifling; wanton”) German liederlich (“dissolute”), German lotterig (“slovenly”), lüderlich (“slovenly”) Old English loþrung (“delusion, rubbish, nonsense”), loddere (“beggar”)

  1. inherited from *(s)lew-✻ — “limp, slack”
  2. inherited from *lūþrijaz✻ — “bad; dissolute; neglected; useless”
  3. inherited from lȳþre — “bad, wicked; base, mean, wretched; corrupt”
  4. inherited from lither

Definitions

  1. Lazy, slothful

    Lazy, slothful; listless.

    • "It is thine own laziness, thou false English blood, that doest nothing but drink and sleep," retorted the page, "and leaves that lither lad to do the work, that he minds as little as thou."
    • Secondarily, let him which laboureth in his vocation be prompt and active; let him be watchful and able to abide labour; he must be no lither-back, unapt, or slothful fellow. Whatsoever he doth, that let him do with faith and diligence.

  2. Flexible, supple

    Flexible, supple; also, agile, lithe.

    • Thou antique Death, vvhich laugh'ſt vs here to ſcorn, / Anon from thy inſulting Tyrannie, / Coupled in bonds of perpetuitie, / Tvvo Talbots vvinged through the lither Skie, / In thy deſpight ſhall ſcape Mortalitie.

  3. Bad, evil

    Bad, evil; false.

    • The follest slouen ondyr heuen, / Prowde, peuiche, lyddyr, and lewde, / Malapert, medyllar, nothyng well thewde, […]
    • For though some be lidder, and list for to rayle, / Yet to lie vpon me they can not preuayle: […]
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. In poor physical condition.

      • [Y]it lyes / Aphipnas ſnorting faſt a ſléepe not mynding for to wake, / Wrapt in a cloke of Bearſkinnes which in Oſſa mount were take. And in his lither hand he hilld a potte of wyne.

    2. comparative form of lithe

      comparative form of lithe: more lithe

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for lither. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA