An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Lehm

by Friedrich Kluge

Lehm, masculine, ‘loam, clay,’ with a Low German and Middle German form (ê for High German ei); the strictly High German form Leimen has a restricted sphere. Compare Middle High German leim, leime, masculine, ‘loam,’ from Old High German leimo, masculine. It corresponds to Anglo-Saxon lâm, English loam (Gothic *laima). The root lai appears with a derivative s in Old Icelandic leir, neuter, from *laiz, which may have been contracted from laj-is, like Gothic ais, ‘brass,’ from ájis, Sanscrit áyas. Allied to Latin lîmus, masculine, ‘slime, dirt.’ The form of the gradation between Teutonic laima and Latin lîmus is ai to î. Compare Leim.