An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/link

by Friedrich Kluge

link, adj., ‘left,’ from the equiv. MidHG. linc, adj., with the variant lęnc (gen. -kes); the form with sl is probably quite as old as that with initial l (comp. drosseln, Stier, Hocken, and lecken). In OHG. only lęncha, f., ‘left hand,’ is recorded; the adj. is rendered by winistar, MidHG. winster, in Bav. lërz, lërc, and tenk, Lower Rhen. slinc (this is doubtless a primitive variant of link, as is shown by the analogies under drosseln, Stier, Hocken, and lecken); in E. left (AS. *lyfte? Du. lucht). In the OTeut. dials. there are no other correspondences of link; perhaps ModHG. lenken is allied to this word with the prim. meaning ‘oblique, awry’; lenken signifies lit. ‘to direct obliquely.’ Schlimm may also be a cognate.