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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

list

/lɪst/
A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.

    Etymology graph

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    • derived
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    • sound component
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    Origin

    Etymology 1

    From Middle English lī̆st, lī̆ste (“band, stripe; hem, selvage; border, edge, rim; list, specification; barriers enclosing area for jousting, etc.”), from Old English līste (“hem, edge, strip”), or Old French liste, listre (“border; band; strip of paper; list”), or Medieval Latin lista, all from Proto-West Germanic *līstā, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”).

    Cognates

    * Saterland Frisian Lieste (“margin, strip, list”)

    * Dutch lijst (“picture frame, list”)

    * German Low German Liest (“edging, border”)

    * German Leiste (“strip, rail, ledge; (heraldry) bar”)

    * Swedish lista (“list”)

    * Icelandic lista listi (“list”)

    * Italian lista (“list; strip”)

    * Portuguese lista (“list”)

    * Spanish lista (“list, roll; stripe”)

    * Galician lista (“band, strip; list”)

    * Finnish lista (“(informal) list; batten”).

    Etymology 2

    From Middle English list, liste (“ability, cleverness, cunning, skill; adroitness, dexterity; strategem, trick; device, design, token”), from Old English list (“art, craft; cleverness, cunning, experience, skill”), from Proto-West Germanic *listi, from Proto-Germanic *listiz (“art, craft”), from Proto-Indo-European *leys-, *leyǝs- (“furrow, trace, track, trail”).

    The word is cognate with Dutch list (“artifice, guile, sleight; ruse, strategem”), German List (“cunning, guile; ploy, ruse, trick”), Low German list (“artifice, cunning; prudence, wisdom”), Icelandic list (“art”), Saterland Frisian list (“cunning, knowledge”), Scots list (“art, craft, skill; cunning”), Swedish list (“art; cunning, guile, wile; ruse, trick; stealth”), and possibly Spanish listo (“clever”). It is also related to learn, lore.

    Etymology 3

    From Middle English listen, from Old English hlystan (“to listen”), from hlyst (“hearing”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlusti, from Proto-Germanic *hlustiz (“hearing”).

    Etymology 4

    From Middle English listen, list, liste, leste, lesten (“to choose, desire, wish (to do something)”), from Old English lystan, from Proto-West Germanic *lustijan, from Proto-Germanic *lustijaną, from Proto-Germanic *lustuz (“pleasure”).

    The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian läste (“to wish for, desire, crave”), West Frisian lêste (“to like, desire”), Dutch lusten (“to appreciate, like; to lust”), German lüsten, gelüsten (“to desire, want, crave”), Danish lyste (“to desire, feel like, want”), Faroese lysta (“to desire”).

    The noun sense is from the verb, or from Middle English list, liste, lest, leste (“desire, wish; craving, longing; enjoyment, joy, pleasure”), which is derived from Middle English listen, list (verb).

    Etymology 5

    Uncertain; possibly from tilting on lists in jousts, or from Etymology 4 in the sense of inclining towards what one desires.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishlist
      • inheritedOld Englishlīste “hem, edge, strip”
        • derivedOld Frenchliste
          • derivedMedieval Latinlista
            • inheritedProto-West Germanic*līstā
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*leys- “to trace, track”
                • derivedProto-Indo-European*leh₂is-
      • inheritedOld Englishlist “art, craft; cleverness, cunning, experience, skill”
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*listi
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*listiz “art, craft”
    • inheritedMiddle Englishlisten “to listen, give heed to”
      • inheritedOld Englishhlystan “to listen”
        • derivedProto-West Germanic*hlusti
          • derivedProto-Germanic*hlustiz “hearing”
      • inheritedOld Englishlystan
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*lustijan
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*lustijaną
            • derivedProto-Germanic*lustuz “pleasure”
    • derived (possibly)Englishtilting “The motion of something that tilts; a tilt.”
      • derivedEnglishEtymology

    Related: Saterland Frisian Lieste, Dutch lijst, German Low German Liest, German Leiste, Swedish lista, Icelandic lista, Italian lista, Portuguese lista, Spanish lista, Galician lista, Finnish lista, Dutch list, German List, Low German list, Icelandic list, Saterland Frisian list, Scots list, Swedish list, Spanish listo, Saterland Frisian läste, West Frisian lêste, Dutch lusten, German lüsten, Danish lyste

    Words built on it: A-list

    Meanings

    noun
    1. A strip of fabric, especially from the edge of a piece of cloth.
    2. Material used for cloth selvage.
    3. A register or roll of paper consisting of a compilation or enumeration of a set of possible items; the compilation or enumeration itself.
    4. The barriers or palisades used to fence off a space for jousting or tilting tournaments.
    5. The scene of a military contest; the ground or field of combat; an enclosed space that serves as a battlefield; the site of a pitched battle.
    6. A codified representation of a list used to store data or in processing; especially, in the Lisp programming language, a data structure consisting of a sequence of zero or more items.
    verb
    1. To create or recite a list.
    2. To place in listings.
    3. To sew together, as strips of cloth, so as to make a show of colours, or to form a border.
    4. To cover with list, or with strips of cloth; to put list on; to stripe as if with list.
    5. To plough and plant with a lister.
    6. To prepare (land) for a cotton crop by making alternating beds and alleys with a hoe.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: list