An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/erlauben

by Friedrich Kluge

erlauben, earlier erleuben, verb, ‘to allow, permit, grant,’ from Middle High German erlouben (erleuben), Old High German irlouben (irlouppen), ‘to allow’; compare Gothic uslaubjan, ‘to permit, grant,’ Anglo-Saxon âlŷfan. The original meaning of erlauben, like that of glauben, is ‘to approve,’ which is also inherent in the Teutonic root lub, upon which the word is based (compare Lob, lieb, Glaube, which are connected by gradation of the root lub, liub, laub). An old abstract of erlauben appears in Modern High German Urlaub.