licettere (Old English)

Where does "licettere" come from?

The Old English noun 'licettere', meaning 'hypocrite' or 'pretender'[1], is formed by attaching the agent suffix '-ere' to the verb 'licettan'[1]. This verb traces back to the Proto-West Germanic 'likattjan'[2], which was built from the root '*galik' and the suffix '*-attjan'[3]. The root '*galik' derives from the Proto-Germanic '*galikaz'[4][5], a compound featuring the prefix 'ga-' and the suffix '*-likaz'[5]. This suffix stems from the Proto-Germanic 'lika', referring to a 'body' or 'corpse'[6], which ultimately finds its origin in the Proto-Indo-European '*leyg-' meaning 'image' or 'likeness'[7]. This etymological chain reflects a complex shift from the concept of being similar in shape to the physical notion of a 'body' and eventually to the behavioral sense of a pretender[6][7].

Open questions

The reconstructed Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic forms are based on linguistic analysis rather than direct attestation. [2] [3] [4] [5] [7]
The semantic evolution from 'likeness' to 'body' involves a reconstructed shift in meaning that remains open to interpretation. [6] [7]

Full etymology tree

licettere (Old English), 'hypocrite, pretender'
- derived licettan (Old English), 'to feign, pretend, profess falsely, fake'
  - inherited *līkattjan (Proto-West Germanic), 'to pretend'
    - derived *galīk (Proto-West Germanic), 'alike, similar'
      - inherited *galīkaz (Proto-Germanic), 'alike, similar'
        compound *ga- (Proto-Germanic), 'Indicates association or togetherness; co-.'
        compound *-līkaz (Proto-Germanic), '-like, -ly. Forms adjectives from nouns and adjectives with the sense of 'similar to, characteristic of'.'
        inherited *līką (Proto-Germanic), 'body'
        inherited *leyg- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to jump around, run around'
    - affix *-attjan (Proto-West Germanic), 'Creates verbs from nouns and adjectives, similar to -ise.'
- affix -ere (Old English), 'masculine agent suffix, originally applied only to nouns'

Ancestors

licettan (Old English)
-ere (Old English)

Sources

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris