Ludwig

Middle English, from Old English hlud "noisy; making or emitting noise" (of voices, musical instruments, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *hludaz "heard" (source also of Old Frisian and Old Saxon hlud, Middle Dutch luut, Dutch luid, Old High German hlut, German laut "loud"), from PIE *klutos- (source also of Sanskrit srutah, Greek klytos "heard of, celebrated," Latin inclutus "renowned, famous," Armenian lu "known," Irish cloth "noble, brave," Welsh clod "praise, fame"), suffixed form of root *kleu- "to hear."

Of places, "noisy," from 1590s. Application to colors, garments, etc. ("flashy, showy") is by 1849. Also used colloquially of notably strong or bad smells. Paired with clear (adj.) at least since c. 1650.

c. 1300, "military supremacy, victory in battle or a physical contest," from Anglo-French and Old French victorie (12c.) and directly from Latin victoria "victory," from past participle stem of vincere "to overcome, conquer" (from nasalized form of PIE root *weik- (3) "to fight, conquer"). V.E. ("victory in Europe") and V.J. ("victory in Japan") days in World War II were first used Sept. 2, 1944, by James F. Byrne, then U.S. director of War Mobilization [Washington Post, Sept. 10, 1944].