n.
Gaw pl. laykez; Cl pl. laykeʒ; WA laike, layke, pl. laikis, lakez
'sport, entertainment; fighting; conduct, practice, sin'
(Modern English lake)cp. OIcel leikr ‘game, play, sport’ < PGmc *laikaz; cp. OE lāc, Go láiks ‘dance’, OFris. lēk, OS lēk, OHG leih ‘melody’
PGmc Ancestor
*laikaz
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
leikr ‘game, play, sport’
(ONP leikr (1) (sb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far leikur, Icel leikur, Norw leik, Dan leg, OSw leker, Sw lek
OE Cognate
lāc 'play, sport'
Phonological and morphological markers
ON /ei/ < PGmc */ai/
Summary category
A1*bc
In ME (Orrm onwards) primarily N and E, and elsewhere in alliterative verse (see further Kolb: 131-3, Thorson 35) and on n. in place-names in Cum., see EPNE. Survives in MnE dial in compounds e.g. lake-day, lake-lass (see further OED and EDD).
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 262, 1023, 1125 etc.; Cl 122, 274, 1053 etc.; Pat 401; WA 385, 655, 1761 etc.