Online Etymology Dictionary

looker (n.): Old English locere "one engaged in looking," agent noun from look (v.). Meaning "one who watches over" is from c.1300; that of "one who has a certain appearance" is late 15c. Slang meaning "attractive woman" attested from 1893. Looker-in (1927) was an early word for "television viewer."
looking-glass (n.): 1520s, from looking (see look) + glass.
lookout (n.): also look-out, "person who stands watch or acts as a scout," 1690s, from look + out. Verbal phrase look out "be on the watch" attested from c.1600.
loom (n.): weaving machine, Old English geloma "utensil, tool," from ge-, perfective prefix, + -loma, of unknown origin (cf. Old English andloman (plural) "apparatus, furniture"). Originally "implement or tool of any kind" (cf. heirloom); thus, "the penis" (c.1400-1600). Specific meaning "a machine in which yarn or thread is woven into fabric" is from c.1400.
loom (v.): 1540s, "to come into view largely and indistinctly," perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. dialectal Swedish loma, East Frisian lomen "move slowly"), perhaps a variant from the root of lame (adj.). Early used also of ships moving up and down. Figurative use from 1590s. Related: Loomed; looming.
loon (n.1): large diving bird (especially the Great Northern Diver), 1630s, from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian lom, from Old Norse lomr).
loon (n.2): "crazy person," mid-15c., lowen "rascal," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Dutch loen "stupid person."
loony (adj.): also loonie, looney, 1853, American English, short for lunatic, but also influenced by loon (n.2) and perhaps loon (n.1), the bird being noted for its wild cry and method of escaping from danger. As a noun by 1884, from the adjective. Slang loony bin "insane asylum" is from 1919. Looney left in reference to holders of political views felt to be left-wing in the extreme is from 1977. Looney Tunes, Warner Bros. studios' animated cartoon series, dates from 1930.
loop (n.): late 14c., "loop of cloth, rope, leather, etc.," probably of Celtic origin (cf. Gaelic lub "bend," Irish lubiam), influenced by or blended with Old Norse hlaup "a leap, run" (see leap (v.)). In reference to magnetic recording tape or film, first recorded 1931. Computer programming sense first attested 1947.
loop (v.): "to form a loop," c.1400, "draw (a leash through a ring)," from loop (n.). Related: Looped; looping. Slang looped "drunk" is from 1934. Loop the loop (1900) originally was in reference to roller-coasters at amusement parks.
"Loop-the-Loop" is the name of a new entertainment which goes further in the way of tempting Providence than anything yet invented. The "Loop" is an immense circle of track in the air. A car on a mimic railway shoots down a very steep incline, and is impelled around the inner side of this loop. ... The authorities at Coney Island are said to have prohibited "looping-the-loop" because women break their corset strings in their efforts to catch their breath as they sweep down the incline, and moreover, a young man is reported to have ruptured a blood vessel in his liver. ["Philadelphia Medical Journal," Aug. 10, 1901]
loophole (n.): also loop-hole, mid-15c., from Middle English loupe "opening in a wall" for shooting through or admitting light (c.1300), perhaps related to Middle Dutch lupen "to watch, peer;" + hole (n.). Figurative sense of "outlet, means of escape" is from 1660s.
loopy (adj.): "full of loops," 1856, from loop + -y (2). Slang sense "crazy" is attested from 1923. Earlier figurative sense was "cunning, deceitful" (by 1825).
loose (adj.): early 13c., "not securely fixed;" c.1300, "unbound," from Old Norse lauss "loose, free, vacant, dissolute," cognate with Old English leas "devoid of, false, feigned, incorrect," from Proto-Germanic *lausaz (cf. Danish løs "loose, untied," Swedish lös "loose, movable, detached," Middle Dutch, German los "loose, free," Gothic laus "empty, vain"), from PIE *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart" (see lose). Meaning "not clinging, slack" is mid-15c. Meaning "not bundled" is late 15c. Sense of "unchaste, immoral" is recorded from late 15c. Meaning "at liberty, free from obligation" is 1550s. Sense of "rambling, disconnected" is from 1680s. Figurative sense of loose cannon was in use by 1896, probably from celebrated image in a popular story by Hugo:
You can reason with a bull dog, astonish a bull, fascinate a boa, frighten a tiger, soften a lion; no resource with such a monster as a loose cannon. You cannot kill it, it is dead; and at the same time it lives. It lives with a sinister life which comes from the infinite. It is moved by the ship, which is moved by the sea, which is moved by the wind. This exterminator is a plaything. [Victor Hugo, "Ninety Three"]
Loose end in reference to something unfinished, undecided, unguarded is from 1540s; to be at loose ends is from 1807. Phrase on the loose "free, unrestrained" is from 1749 (upon the loose).
loose (v.): early 13c, "to set free," from loose (adj.). Meaning "to undo, untie, unfasten" is 14c. Related: Loosed; loosing.
loose-leaf (adj.): 1899, from loose (adj.) + leaf (n.).
loosely (adv.): late 14c., from loose + -ly (2).
loosen (v.): late 14c., losnen, later lousen (early 15c.), from loose (v.) + -en (1). Related: Loosened; loosening.
looseness (n.): c.1400, from loose + -ness.
loot (n.): "goods taken from an enemy, etc.," 1788, Anglo-Indian, from Hindi lut, from Sanskrit loptram, lotram "booty, stolen property," from PIE *roup-tro-, from root *reup- "to snatch" (see rapid). The verb is first attested 1821, from the noun. Related: Looted; looting.
looter (n.): 1858, agent noun from loot (v.).
looting (n.): 1842, verbal noun from loot (v.).
lop (v.1): "cut off," 1510s, from Middle English loppe (n.) "small branches and twigs trimmed from trees" (early 15c.), of unknown origin. Related: Lopped (mid-15c.); lopping. Place name Loppedthorn is attested from 1287.
lop (v.2): "droop, hang loosely," 1570s, probably a variant of lob or of lap (v.); cf. lopsided (1711), originally lapsided, first used of ships. Lop-eared attested from 1680s. Related: Lopped; lopping.
lope (v.): "to run with long strides," early 15c.; earlier "to leap, jump, spring" (c.1300), from Old Norse hlaupa "to run, leap," from Proto-Germanic *khlaupan (see leap (v.)). Related: Loped; loping. The noun meaning "a jump, a leap" is from late 14c.; sense of "long, bounding stride" is from 1809.
lopsided (adj.): also lop-sided, 1711, originally lapsided, first used of ships; from lop (v.2) + side (n.). Related: Lopsidedly; lopsidedness.
loquacious (adj.): 1660s, back-formation from loquacity or else formed from stem of Latin loquax (genitive loquacis) "talkative," from loqui "to speak" (see locution) + -ous. Related: Loquaciously; loquaciousness.
loquacity (n.): c.1200, from Latin loquacitatem (nominative loquacitas) "talkativeness," from loquax "talkative" (see loquacious). An Old English word for it was ofersprecolnes.
loquat (n.): 1820, from Cantonese luh kwat, literally "rush orange."
loquitur: stage direction, "he or she speaks," Latin, third person present indicative singular of loqui "to talk" (see locution).
loran (n.): 1940, a word invented from initial letters in long-range navigation.
lord (n.): mid-13c., laverd, loverd, from Old English hlaford "master of a household, ruler, superior," also "God" (translating Latin Dominus, though Old English drihten was used more often), earlier hlafweard, literally "one who guards the loaves," from hlaf "bread, loaf" (see loaf (n.)) + weard "keeper, guardian" (see ward (n.)). Cf. lady, and Old English hlafæta "household servant," literally "loaf-eater." Modern monosyllabic form emerged 14c. As an interjection from late 14c. Lord's Prayer is from 1540s. Lord of the Flies translates Beelzebub (q.v.) and was name of 1954 book by William Golding. To drink like a lord is from 1620s.
lord (v.): c.1300, "to exercise lordship," from lord (n.). Meaning "to play the lord, domineer" is late 14c. Related: Lorded; lording. To lord it is from 1570s.
Lord's: cricket grounds in London, named for founder Thomas Lord (1757-1832).
lordly (adj.): 14c., from Old English hlafordlic "lordly, noble;" see lord (n.) + -ly (1). As an adverb from mid-14c.
lordosis (n.): curvature of the spine, 1704, Modern Latin, from Greek lordosis, from lordos "bent backwards." Related: Lordotic.
lordship (n.): c.1300, from Old English hlafordscipe "authority, rule" (translating Latin dominatio); see lord (n.) + -ship.
Lordy (interj.): 1832, in imitation of U.S. black speech; extended form of Lord as an interjection.
lore (n.): Old English lar "learning, what is taught, knowledge, science, doctrine, art of teaching," from Proto-Germanic *laizo (Old Saxon lera, Old Frisian lare, Middle Dutch lere, Dutch leer, Old High German lera, German Lehre "teaching, precept, doctrine"), from PIE *leis- (see learn).
Lorelei: 1843, from German, name of a rock in the River Rhine near Koblenz, Germany. In legend, a lovely woman sat atop it and sang while combing her long blond hair, distracting sailors so their ships foundered on the rock and they drowned. The second element of the name probably is Rhenish dialect lei "cliff, rock;" the first element is perhaps from Middle High German lüren "to lie in wait"
lorgnette (n.): "opera glass with a handle," 1803 (from 1776 as a French word in English), from French lorgnette, from lorgner "to squint," also "to leer at, oogle" (16c.), from lorgne "squinting," of uncertain origin. With diminutive suffix -ette. Cf. also French lorgnon "eyeglass, eyeglasses."
lorimer (n.): c.1200 (mid-12c. as surname), "maker of bits for bridles and saddles, worker in small ironware," from Old French loremier "saddler, harness-maker, military leatherworker" (Modern French lormier), from loraim, from Latin lorum "strap, thong, rein of a bridle," from PIE root *wel- "to turn" (see vulva).
loris (n.): small primate of Sri Lanka, 1774, from French loris (Buffon), of unknown origin, said to be from obsolete Dutch loeris "booby, clown."
lorn (adj.): (archaic) c.1300, "lost, ruined," from Old English loren, past participle of leosan "to lose" (see lose). Meaning "abandoned, left alone" is from late 15c. Cf. forlorn.
Lorraine: region in eastern France, from Medieval Latin Lotharingia, literally "Lothar's Realm," name later given to the northern portion of the lands assigned by the Treaty of Verdun (843 C.E.) to Lothair I in the first division of the Carolingian empire. His empire stretched from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. Before his death (855 C.E.), Lothair subdivided his lands among his three sons. His son, Lothair (for whom the region is named), was given Lotharingia as his kingdom.
lorry (n.): "a truck; a long, flat wagon," 1838, British railroad word, probably from verb lurry "to pull, tug" (1570s), of uncertain origin. Meaning "large motor vehicle for carrying goods" is first attested 1911.
lory (n.): small parrot of New Guinea and Australia, 1690s, from Malay luri, name of kind of parrot, variant of nuri.
Los Angeles: city in southern California, U.S., founded 1781; the modern name is short for the original, given variously as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles or El Pueblo de la Reyna de los Ángeles.
lose (v.): Old English losian "be lost, perish," from los "destruction, loss," from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (cf. Old Norse los "the breaking up of an army;" Old English forleosan "to lose, destroy," Old Frisian forliasa, Old Saxon farliosan, Middle Dutch verliesen, Old High German firliosan, German verlieren), from PIE root *leu- "to loosen, divide, cut apart, untie, separate" (cf. Sanskrit lunati "cuts, cuts off," lavitram "sickle;" Greek lyein "to loosen, untie, slacken," lysus "a loosening;" Latin luere "to loose, release, atone for, expiate").

Replaced related leosan (a class II strong verb whose past participle loren survives in forlorn and lovelorn), from Proto-Germanic *leusanan (cf. Old High German virliosan, German verlieren, Old Frisian urliasa, Gothic fraliusan "to lose").

Transitive sense of "to part with accidentally" is from c.1200. Meaning "fail to maintain" is from mid-15c. Meaning "to be defeated" (in a game, etc.) is from 1530s. Meaning "to cause (someone) to lose his way" is from 1640s. To lose (one's) mind "become insane" is attested from c.1500. To lose out "fail" is 1858, American English. Related: Lost; losing.
loser (n.): mid-14c., "a destroyer," agent noun from lose (v.). Sense of "one who suffers loss" is from 1540s; meaning "horse that loses a race" is from 1902; "convicted criminal" is from 1912; "hapless person" is 1955 student slang.
loss (n.): Old English los "loss, destruction," from Proto-Germanic *lausa- (see lose). The modern word, however, probably evolved 14c. with a weaker sense, from lost, the original past participle of lose. Phrase at a loss (1590s) originally refers to hounds losing the scent. To cut (one's) losses is from 1885, originally in finance.