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*lē-
Related entries & more Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to let go, slacken."
It forms all or part of: alas; allegiance; lassitude; last (adj.) "following all others;" late; latter; lenient; lenitive; lenity; let (v.) "allow;" let (n.) "stoppage, obstruction;" liege.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Greek ledein "to be weary;" Latin lenis "mild, gentle, calm," lassus "faint, weary;" Lithuanian lėnas "quiet, tranquil, tame, slow," leisti "to let, to let loose;" Old Church Slavonic lena "lazy," Old English læt "sluggish, slow," lætan "to leave behind."
languor (n.)c. 1300, "disease, sickness; distress, mental suffering," from Old French langor "sickness; weakness" (12c., Modern French langueur), from Latin languorem (nominative languor) "faintness, feebleness, lassitude," from languere "be weak or faint" (see lax). Sense in English shifted to "faintness, weariness" (1650s) and "habitual want of energy" (1825).
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