An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Leumund

by Friedrich Kluge

Leumund, masculine, ‘reputation, character,’ from Middle High German and Old High German liumunt, masculine, ‘reputation, fame, report.’ In Modern High German it is perhaps instinctively interpreted as Leute Mund, ‘mouth of the people’; but the word is not a compound. In Gothic probably *hliumunds, masculine, which must be referred to hliuma, ‘hearing, ear’; -munda- is perhaps an affix corresponding to Greek -ματ- and Latin -mento- (in co-gnô-mentum). The root hliu- has numerous derivatives, both in the Teutonic and non-Teutonic languages (compare laut, läuten, Greek κλέος, Sanscrit çrávas, ‘fame’); Sanscrit çrômata-masculine, neuter, ‘hearing,’ corresponds most nearly in form to High German Leumund. Latin crîmen has absolutely nothing to do with these last two terms. Verleumden, ‘to calumniate,’ is not based directly on Leumund, but on a Middle High German liumde, normally abbreviated from it.