Two words, four shared letters, opposite connotations. The leer leans forward, too engaged. The leery leans back, trying to disengage. So what gives?
leery
“untrusting, suspicious,” 1718, originally slang, probably from dialectal lere “learning, knowledge” (see lore), or from leer (v.) in some now-obscure sense.
leer (v.)
“to look obliquely” (now usually implying “with a lustful or malicious intent”), 1530, from M.E. noun ler “cheek,” from O.E. hleor “the cheek, the face,” from P.Gmc. *khleuzas “near the ear,” from *kleuso– “ear,” from PIE root *kleu– “to hear” (see listen). The notion is probably of “looking askance” (cf. figurative development of cheek). The noun is first attested 1598.
The word was born back when the world didn’t distinguish between a lustful look or a malicious one. Confusing times…
The Oxford English Dictionary has lots of “leery” in the current sense: “A ‘leary look,’ in which fear, defiance and cunning are mixed up together” (that’s some magazine from 1882).
But it also has a chunk of older usages of “leery” that mean “empty” and “tired”:
1676 J. BEAUMONT in Phil. Trans. XI. 734 These Stones are generally found in Leirey places (as they call it) that is, Cavernous. 1787 GROSE Prov. Gloss., Leary, empty. Dorsetsh. 1796 W. MARSHALL W. Eng. I. 328 Lear or Leary, empty, as an unloaded cart or waggon. 1874 W. CORY Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 372 My cart goes ‘leery’ (= empty) to fetch coals. 1889 T. HARDY Mayor Casterbr. xx, I’ve been strolling in the Walks and churchyard, father, till I feel quite leery. 1891 {emem} Tess (1900) 44/1 And he so leery and tired that ‘a didn’t know what to do.
It also has usages of “leer” that mean “complexion,” probably from that old “cheek” meaning:
a1310 in Wright Lyric P. 52 Hire lure lumes liht, Ase a launterne a nyht. c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 2510 The mayden with lely lire. c1460 Towneley Myst. xxxi. 145 Youre rud that was so red, youre lyre the lylly lyke.
What’s that first one? “Her leer lumes [glows?] light as a lantern at night?”
They liked their alliteration back then.
Awesome article.
Or is it awful? Same difference.
I hope your mother gets brain cancer on Christmas day.
Interesting to see the older meaning of empty — that’s a direct translation of the German word leer (pronounced like the English “lair”).
For example, if you were talking about Joe Lieberman, “Sein Kopf und sein Herz sind leer”. “His head and his heart are empty”.
Awesome post! Keep up etymology of the day for us word nerds out here.
@ 2. She’s already got cancer, but it’s the thought that counts.
Welcome back, Prince Charming.
I’m only back for a few more hours. If that.
Love yoooouuu.
Don’t look up “cleave”, if you want to keep any faith that English means what it says it means.
Lingwo dead.
The Oxford Book of English Verse says “lumes” translates to something like “beams.” So yeah, I think that makes sense. And yes, alliteration was the bomb in Middle English. Old English even more so, I think.
http://www.bartleby.com/101/4.html