lista (Polish)

Where does "lista" come from?

The Polish noun 'lista' was borrowed from French 'liste'[1], which entered the language from Italian 'lista'[2]. This Italian word traces back to a Vulgar Latin form '*lista', adopted from a Germanic source, either Frankish '*līsta' or Lombardic 'līsta'[3]. Both point back to Proto-West Germanic '*līstā' and Proto-Germanic '*līstǭ', meaning 'band, strip, list'[3]. Ultimately, the term derives from Proto-Indo-European '*leizd' or '*leyzd-', meaning 'edge, seam, band', which is related to '*leys-', meaning 'track, groove, furrow'[3][4].

Open questions

It is uncertain whether the Vulgar Latin term was borrowed specifically from Frankish or from Lombardic. [3]
The earliest ancestral forms in Vulgar Latin, Frankish, Proto-West Germanic, Proto-Germanic, and Proto-Indo-European are reconstructed and not directly attested in writing. [3] [4]

Full etymology tree

lista (Polish), 'list; inventory (register or roll of paper consisting of an enumeration or compilation of a set of possible items)'
- borrowed liste (French), 'list'
  - borrowed lista (Italian), 'list, pile'
    - derived *lista (Vulgar Latin)
      - borrowed *līsta (Frankish)
        inherited *līstā (Proto-West Germanic)
        inherited *līstǭ (Proto-Germanic), 'strip; band; hem; selvage; list'
        derived *leyzd- (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *leys- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to trace, to track'
      - borrowed līsta (Lombardic)
        inherited *līstā (Proto-West Germanic)
        inherited *līstǭ (Proto-Germanic), 'strip; band; hem; selvage; list'
        derived *leyzd- (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *leys- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to trace, to track'

Ancestors

liste (French)

Cognates and doublets

listwa (Polish)

Sources

Updated October 2026

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