different between lithe vs willowy

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /la?ð/
• Rhymes: -a?ð

Etymology 1

From Middle English lithen, from Old English l?þan (“to go, travel, sail, be bereft of”), from Proto-Germanic *l?þan? (“to go, leave, suffer”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go, depart, die”). Cognate with North Frisian lyen, lije (“to suffer”), Dutch lijden (“to suffer, dree, abide”), German leiden (“to suffer, brook, permit”). See also lode, lead.

Verb

lithe (third-person singular simple present lithes, present participle lithing, simple past lithed or lode, past participle lithed or lidden)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To go.

Etymology 2

From Middle English lithe, from Old English l?þe (“gentle, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *linþ(?), from Proto-Germanic *linþaz, from Proto-Indo-European *lentos. Akin to Saterland Frisian lied (“thin, skinny, gaunt”), Danish and archaic German lind (“mild”). Not attested in Gothic. Some sources also list Latin lenis (“soft”) and/or Latin lentus (“supple”) as possible cognates.

Adjective

lithe (comparative lither, superlative lithest)

1. (obsolete) Mild; calm.

   Synonyms: clement, gentle, mellow

2. Slim but not skinny.

   Synonyms: lithesome, lissome, swack; see also Thesaurus:slender

   • She was frankly disappointed. For some reason she had thought to discover a burglar of one or another accepted type—either a dashing cracksman in full-blown evening dress, lithe, polished, pantherish, or a common yegg, a red-eyed, unshaven burly brute in the rags and tatters of a tramp.
3. Capable of being easily bent; flexible.

   Synonyms: pliant, flexible, limber; see also Thesaurus:flexible

   • 1861, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Elsie Venner, page 125

     … she danced with a kind of passionate fierceness, her lithe body undulating with flexuous grace …

4. Adaptable.

Derived terms

• litheness

Related terms

• -inda
• lind
• linden
• Linda

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English lithen, from Old English l?þian, l?þi?ian (“to soften, calm, mitigate, assuage, appease, be mild”), from Proto-Germanic *linþijan? (“to soften”), from Proto-Indo-European *lento- (“bendsome, resilient”). Cognate with German lindern (“to alleviate, ease, relieve”).

Verb

lithe

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To become calm.
2. (transitive, obsolete) To make soft or mild; soften; alleviate; mitigate; lessen; smooth; palliate.
   • a. 1652, Thomas Adams, Physic from Heaven

     England.. hath now suppled, lithed and stretched their throats.

   • 1642, Daniel Rogers, Naaman the Syrian: His Disease and Cure

     Give me also faith, Lord,.. to lithe, to form, and to accommodate my spirit and members.

Etymology 4

From Middle English lithen, from Old Norse hlýða (“to listen”), from Proto-Germanic *hliuþijan? (“to listen”), from Proto-Indo-European *?lewe- (“to hear”). Cognate with Danish lytte (“to listen”). Related to Old English hl?oþor (“noise, sound, voice, song, hearing”), Old English hl?d (“loud, noisy, sounding, sonorous”). More at loud.

Alternative forms

• lythe

Verb

lithe (third-person singular simple present lithes, present participle lithing, simple past and past participle lithed)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To attend; listen, hearken.
2. (transitive) To listen to, hearken to.

Etymology 5

Origin uncertain; perhaps an alteration of lewth.

Noun

lithe (plural lithes)

1. (Scotland) Shelter.
   • 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song:

     So Cospatric got him the Pict folk to build a strong castle there in the lithe of the hills, with the Grampians dark and bleak behind it, and he had the Den drained and he married a Pict lady and got on her bairns and he lived there till he died.

Anagrams

• Leith, Theil, Thiel, lieth

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

lithe (plural lithes)

1. Alternative form of light

Etymology 2

Noun

lithe

1. Alternative form of lyth

English

Etymology

willow +? -y

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w?l??i/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?w?lo?i/

Adjective

willowy (comparative willowier, superlative willowiest)

1. Resembling a willow.
2. (of a person) Tall, slender and graceful.
3. (of a place) Having willow trees.

Synonyms

• (resembling a willow): willowish, willowlike
• (of a person): lithe, slim, svelte; see also Thesaurus:slender
• (of a place): willowed

Translations