further to livid

[Bernard W. Kane]

>From the Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology (Barnhart 1988) s.v., p. 604:

livid _adj._ having a dull-bluish or grayish color. Probably before 1425
_livide,_ in a translation of Chauliac's _Grande Chirurgie,_ borrowed from
Middle French _livide_ and Latin _lividus,_ from _livere_ be bluish. Latin
_livere_ (formed from a lost adjective *livos, Indo-European _*liwos, Pok.
965) is cognate with Old Irish _li_ color, Welsh _lliw,_ Old Slavic _sliva_
plum {Ed.: ah, there, Slivovitz!] and Old English _sla, slah_ SLOE. The
modern extended use of angry, as if livid with rage, is first recorded in
1912.

 The hit from 1425 is probably a contribution of one of Sol Steinmetz's
collection of Middle English specialists who worked on the book.

Bernie Kane
word-finder
mailto:bkane at tigger.jvnc.net