Leave
/liːv/noun
To go away from a place or person, or to let something remain.
Did you know?English leave and live are ancient cousins: both go back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to remain,” which is why this word carries the eerie feeling of what’s left after something departs.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*leip-
“to stick, leave behind, remain”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*laibijaną
“to leave behind, be left”
Old English
OE
lǣfan
“to leave, allow, permit”
Old English
OE
læfan / belǣfan
“to cause to remain, leave behind”
Middle English
ME
leven / leven
“to leave, permit, abandon”
Modern English
English
leave
“to go away from, depart from, or allow to remain”