An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/lecken

by Friedrich Kluge

lecken (1.), vb., ‘to lick,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lëcken, OHG. lëcchôn (for Goth. *likkôn). It corresponds to Du. likken, AS. liccian, E. to lick. The vb. likkôn, ‘to lick,’ common to E. and G., is related to Goth. laigôn, apart from the gradation, as HG. Ziege (Goth. *tigô) is to Zicklein (Goth. *tikkein), or as Hut (Goth. *hôda-) is to AS. hœtt (Goth. *hattu-). Goth. *likkôn, ‘to lick,’ is also authenticated by the equiv. Rom. cognates borrowed from it, Ital. leccare, Fr. lécher. A Teut. root slikk seems to be preserved in ModHG. schlecken, OIc. sleikja, ‘to lick.’ Goth. *laigôn is based on an Aryan root lī̆gh, leigh, loigh; Gr. λείχω, ‘to lick,’ λιχνεύω, ‘to lick, taste by stealth,’ λίχνος, ‘glutton, dainty’; Sans. rih, lih, ‘to lick’; OSlov. ližą (liżati), and Lith. lëżiù (lêżti), ‘to lick’; Lat. lingo, ‘to lick,’ and allied to this perhaps Lat. lingua (Lith. lëżùvis), ‘tongue’; OIr. ligim, ‘to lick.’

lecken (2.), löcken, vb., ‘to kick, hop,’ from the equiv. MidHG. lęcken, wk. vb., in Goth. perhaps *lakjan, which may be connected with Gr. λάξ, adv. λάγιδην, ‘with the foot.’ Its kinship with Goth. laikan, ‘to spring, hop,’ is improbable.