lengthe

== Middle English == === Alternative forms === lencth, lencþe, lenght, lenghte, length, lengþe, lenkthe, lenkþe, lingþe, lyngþe; lengðe (Early Middle English) leinþ (Ireland); lenght, lenȝte, lenkethe (Northwest Midland); leinthe, leyngeth, leynthe, leynþe (Southwestern, West Midland) lenth, lenthe, lenþe (especially East Anglia, Northern, West Midland); lenghthe, lenȝth, lenkith (especially Northern); lengh, lenghe (especially West Midland, Yorkshire) === Etymology === Inherited from Old English lengþu, from Proto-West Germanic *langiþu, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō; equivalent to long +‎ -the (abstract nominal suffix). The rare forms with /i/ show the expected raising of /ɛ/ before /nɡ/, /nk/, which was mostly blocked by analogy with long and the form /ˈlɛnθ(ə)/. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈlɛnɡθ(ə)/, /ˈlɛnkθ(ə)/, /ˈlɛnθ(ə)/ IPA(key): /ˈlinɡθ(ə)/, /ˈlinkθ(ə)/ (rare) === Noun === lengthe (plural lengthes) Duration; length of time. A period of time, especially if long. The passage or course of time. Length or height; linear distance. ==== Descendants ==== English: length Middle Scots: lenth, lenthe Scots: lenth, lainth ==== References ==== “leng(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. “length(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. Jordan, Richard (1974), Eugene Crook, transl., Handbook of the Middle English Grammar: Phonology (Janua Linguarum. Series Practica; 218)‎[1], The Hague: Mouton & Co. N.V., →DOI, § 193, page 178. McIntosh, Angus; Samuels, M[ichael] L.; Benskin, Michael (2013) [1986], Michael Benskin, Margaret Laing, editors, eLALME: A Linguistic Atlas of Late Medieval English‎[2], Edinburgh: Angus McIntosh Centre for Historical Linguistics; revised November 2024.