Online Etymology Dictionary

-latry: suffix meaning "worship of," in use in native formations from 19c. (e.g. bardolatry), from Gk. -latreia "worship, service paid to the gods, hired labor," related to latron "pay, hire," latris "servant, worshipper."
-less: the suffix meaning "lacking" is from O.E. -leas, from leas "free (from), devoid (of), false, feigned," from P.Gmc. *lausaz (cf. Du. -loos, Ger. -los "less," O.N. lauss "loose, free, vacant, dissolute," M.Du. los, Ger. los "loose, free," Goth. laus "empty, vain"). Related to loose and lease.
-ling: dim. suffix, early 14c., from O.E. -ling a nominal suffix (not originally dim.), from P.Gmc. *-linga-; attested in historical Gmc. languages as a simple suffix, but probably representing a fusion of the suffixes represented by Eng. -le (cf. icicle, thimble, handle), O.E. -ol, -ul, -el; and -ing, suffix indicating "person or thing of a specific kind or origin; in masc. nouns also "son of" (cf. farthing, atheling, O.E. horing "adulterer, fornicator"). Both these suffixes had occasional dim. force, but this was only slightly evident in O.E. -ling and its equivalents in Gmc. languages except O.N., where it commonly was used as a diminutive suffix, especially in words designating the young of animals (e.g. gæslingr "gosling"). Thus it is possible that the diminutive use that developed in Middle English is from Old Norse.
-lite: comb. form meaning "stone," from Fr. -lite, variant of -lithe, from Gk. lithos "stone."
-logue: suffix meaning "one who is immersed in or driven by," mostly from Fr.-derived words, from Gk. -logos, -logon, but now mostly superseded by -loger, -logist except in ideologue and a few others.
-logy: "a speaking, discourse, treatise, doctrine, theory, science," from Gk. -logia (often via Fr. -logie or M.L. -logia), from root of legein "to speak;" thus, "the character or department of one who speaks or treats of (a certain subject);" see lecture.
-ly (1): suffix forming adjectives from nouns, "having qualities of, appropriate to, fitting," irregularly descended from O.E. -lic, from P.Gmc. *-liko- (cf. O.Fris. -lik, Du. -lijk, O.H.G. -lih, Ger. -lich, O.N. -ligr), related to *likom- "appearance, form" (cf. O.E. lich "corpse, body;" see lich, which is a cognate; cf. also like (adj.), with which it is identical).
-ly (2): adv. ending, from O.E. -lice, from P.Gmc. *-liko- (cf. O.Fris. -like, O.S. -liko, Du. -lijk, O.H.G. -licho, Ger. -lich, O.N. -liga, Goth. -leiko); see -ly (1). Cognate with lich, and identical with like (adj.).
"It is curious that Teut[onic] uses 'body' for the adv. formation, while Rom[anic] uses 'mind,' e.g. F. constamment = L. constanti mente." [Weekley]
The modern English form emerged in late M.E., probably from influence of O.N. -liga.
-lysis: scientific/medical suffix meaning "loosening, dissolving, dissolution," from Gk. lysis "a loosening, setting free, releasing, dissolution," from lyein "to unfasten, loose, loosen, untie" (see lose). A French back-formation gave English -lyze for forming verbs from nouns in -lysis.
L.A.: abbreviation for Los Angeles, attested from 1949.
L.L.: contraction of L. legum "of laws, in degrees;" e.g. L.L.D., which stands for Legum Doctor "Doctor of Laws." Plural abbreviations in L. formed by doubling the letter.
l.s.d.: abbreviation of British currency units, from L. librae, soldi, denarii, Roman equivalent of "pounds, shillings, pence."
la: musical note (sixth note of the diatonic scale), early 14c., see gamut.
la-di-da: mocking of affected gentility, c.1883, in derisive imitation of "swell" way of talking.
la-la: nonsense refrain in songs, probably from O.E. la, a common exclamation; but la-la is imitative of babbling speech in many languages (cf. Gk. lalage "babble, prattle," Skt. lalalla "imitation of stammering" L. lallare "to sing to sleep, lull," Ger. lallen "to stammer," Lith. laluoti "to stammer").
lab: shortened form of laboratory, 1895.
label: early 14c., "narrow band or strip of cloth," from O.Fr. label, lambel "ribbon, fringe" (Fr. lambeau "strip, rag, shred, tatter"), possibly from Frankish *labba (cf. O.H.G. lappa "flap"), from P.Gmc. *lapp- (see lap (n.)). Sense of "strip attached to a document to hold a seal" evolved in M.E. (late 14c.), and general meaning of "tag, sticker, slip of paper" is from 1670s. Meaning "circular piece of paper in the center of a gramophone record" (1907), containing information about the recorded music, led to meaning "a recording company" (1952). The verb meaning "to affix a label to" is from c.1600; figurative sense of "to categorize" is from 1853. Related: Labeled; labeling; labelled; labelling.
labia: from L. labia, pl. of labium "lip" (see lip). Specifically of the folds on either side of the vulva from 1630s (labia pudendi).
labia majora: 1826, the outer fold of skin around the vulva, from L., lit. "great lips" (see labia). The singular is labium majus.
labia minora: 1826, the inner folds of skin around the vulva, from L., lit. "lesser lips" (see labia). The singular is labium minus.
labial: "pertaining to the lips," 1590s, from M.L. labialis, from L. labium "lip" (see lip).
labonza: "belly," 1950s, probably from dialectal pronunciation of It. la pancia "the belly," from L. pantex (gen. panticis) "belly" (see paunch).
labor (n.): c.1300, "exertion of the body," from O.Fr. labour (Fr. labeur), from L. laborem (nom. labor) "toil, pain, exertion, fatigue, work," perhaps originally "tottering under a burden," related to labere "to totter." The verb is c.1300, from M.Fr. labourer, from L. laborare, from labor. The verb in modern Fr., Sp., Port. means "to plow;" the wider sense being taken by the equivalent of Eng. travail. Meaning "body of laborers considered as a class" (usually contrasted to capitalists) is from 1839. Sense of "physical exertions of childbirth" is 1595, from Fr. en travail "in (childbirth) suffering" (see travail). Labor Day first marked 1882 in New York City.
laboratory: c.1600, "building set apart for scientific experiments," from M.L. laboratorium "a place for labor or work," from L. laboratus, pp. of laborare "to work" (see labor).
laborer: early 14c., agent noun from labor.
laborious: late 14c., "hard-working," from O.Fr. laborieux (12c.), from L. laboriosus "toilsome, wearisome, troublesome," from labor. Meaning "costing much labor" is from 1550s. Related: Laboriously.
labour: British spelling of labor (q.v.); for suffix, see -or. As short for "the British Labour Party" it is from 1906.
labourer: British spelling of laborer (q.v.); for suffix, see -or.
Labrador: large province of eastern Canada, probably from Port. lavrador "landholder," perhaps in ref. to 15c. Port. explorer Joao Fernandes, a landholder in the Azores. The name was first applied to Greenland. The breed of retriever dog so called from 1829.
labret: ornament inserted into a lip, 1857 (first reference is to Eskimo men), from L. labrum "lip" (see labrum) + -et, as in anklet, bracelet, etc.
labrum: lip or lip-like part, 1816, in various anatomical and zoological uses, from L. labrum, cognate with labium "lip" (see lip).
labyrinth: late 14c., from L. labyrinthus, from Gk. labyrinthos "maze, large building with intricate passages," especially the structure built to hold the Minotaur, from a pre-Gk. language; perhaps related to Lydian labrys "double-edged axe," symbol of royal power, which fits with the theory that the labyrinth was originally the royal Minoan palace on Crete and meant "palace of the double-axe." Used in English for "maze" early 15c., and in figurative sense of "confusing state of affairs" (1540s). Related: Labyrinthine.
lac: "red resinous substance," 1553, from Pers. lak, from Hindi lakh (Prakrit lakkha), from Skt. laksha, which according to Klein is lit. "one hundred thousand," in ref. to the insects that gather in great numbers on the trees and make the resin run out. But others say lakh is an alteration of Skt. rakh, from an IE root word for "color" [Webster]. Still another guess is that Skt. laksha is related to Eng. lax, lox "salmon," and the substance was perhaps originally so called from being somewhat the color of salmon.
lace: early 13c., from O.Fr. las "a net, noose, string" (Fr. lacs), from V.L. *lacium, from L. laqueum (nom. laqueus) "noose, snare" (It. laccio, Sp. lazo), a trapping and hunting term, probably from Italic base *laq- "to ensnare" (cf. L. lacere "to entice"). The "ornamental net pattern" meaning is first recorded 1555. Sense of "cord for tying" remains in shoelace. To lace coffee, etc., with a dash of liquor (1670s) was originally used of sugar, and comes via the notion of "to ornament or trim." Related: Laced. Laced mutton was "an old word for a whore" [Johnson]. As an adjective, lace-curtain "middle class" (or lower-class with middle-class pretensions) usually is used in reference to Irish-Americans.
lacerate: 1590s, from L. laceratus, pp. of lacerare "tear to pieces, mangle," from lacer "torn, mangled," from PIE base *leq- "to rend" (cf. Gk. lakis "tatter, rag," lakizein "to tear to pieces;" Rus. lochma "rag, tatter, scrap;" Albanian lakur "naked"). Related: Lacerated; lacerating.
laceration: 1590s, from L. lacerationem, noun of action from lacerare (see lacerate).
lacey: see lacy.
lachrymose: 1661, "tear-like," from L. lacrimosus "tearful, sorrowful," from lacrima "tear," a dialect-altered borrowing of Gk. dakryma "tear," from dakryein "to shed tears," from dakry "tear," from PIE *dakru-/*draku- (see tear (n.)). Meaning "given to tears, tearful" is first attested 1727; meaning "of a mournful character" is from 1822. The -d- to -l- alteration in L. is the so-called "Sabine -L-," cf. L. olere "smell," from root of odor, and Ulixes, the L. form of Gk. Odysseus.
lack (n.): c.1200, may have existed as unrecorded O.E. *lac or else it was borrowed from M.Du. lak "deficiency, fault;" in either case from P.Gmc. *laka- (cf. O.N. lakr "lacking"). The verb is attested earlier, late 12c., but is considered to be from the noun. Related: Lacking.
lackadaisical: 1768, from interjection lackadaisy "alas, alack" (1748), an alteration of lack-a-day (1690s), from alack the day. Hence, "given to crying 'lack-a-day,' vapidly sentimental." Sense probably altered by influence of lax. Related: Lackadaisically.
lackey: 1529, "footman, running footman, valet," from M.Fr. laquais "foot soldier, footman, servant" (15c.), probably from O.Prov. lacai, from lecai "glutton, covetous," from lecar "to lick." Alternative etymology is via Fr. from Catalan alacay, from Arabic al-qadi "the judge." Yet another guess traces it through Sp. lacayo, from It. lacchè, from Mod.Gk. oulakes, from Turk. ulak "runner, courier." This suits the original sense better, but OED says It. lacchè is from French. Sense of "servile follower" appeared 1588. As a political term of abuse it dates from 1939 in communist jargon.
lackluster: c.1600, first attested in "As You Like It," from lack + luster. Combinations with lack- were frequent in 16c., e.g. lackland (1590s), of a landless man; lack-Latin (1530s), of an ignorant priest.
lacklustre: British spelling of lackluster (q.v.); for suffix, see -re.
laconic: "concise, abrupt," 1580s, from Gk. Lakonikos, from Lakon "person from Lakonia," the district around Sparta in southern Greece in ancient times, whose inhabitants were famously proud of their brevity of speech. When Philip of Macedon threatened them with, "If I enter Laconia, I will raze Sparta to the ground," the Spartans' reply was, "If." Related: Laconically.
Lacoste: Paris-based high-end apparel company, founded 1933, named for René Lacoste (1904-1996), company co-founder.
lacquer: 1670s, from Fr. lacre "a kind of sealing wax," from Port. lacre, unexplained variant of lacca "resinous substance," from Arabic lakk, from Pers. lak (see lac). The verb meaning "to cover or coat with laqueur" is from 1680s. Related: Lacquered.
lacrosse: 1718, Amer.Eng., from Canadian Fr. jeu de la crosse "game of the hooked sticks," from crosse "hooked stick," which is used to throw the ball, from P.Gmc. *kruk-. Originally a N.Amer. Indian game. The native name is represented by Ojibwa (Algonquian) baaga'adowe "to play lacrosse."
lactate (v.): "secrete milk from the breasts," 1889, back formation from lactation. Related: Lactating.
lactation: 1660s, "process of suckling an infant," from Fr. lactation, from L. lactationem (nom. lactatio) "a suckling," from L. lactatus, pp. of lactare "suckle," from lac (gen. lactis) "milk," from PIE base *glact- (cf. Gk. gala, gen. galaktos "milk"). Meaning "process of secreting milk from the breasts" first recorded 1857. M.Ir. lacht, Welsh llaeth "milk" are loan words from Latin.
lactic acid: 1790; so called because it was obtained from sour milk (see lactation).