layt

v.

Gaw infin. layt, layte; Cl imper. pl. layteʒ, pp. layted; Pat pres. 2, 3 sg. laytes; Erk pp. *laitid; WA laite, layte imp. pl. laite

'to seek, search, wish to know'

(Modern English lait)

Etymology

cp. OIcel leita ‘to seek, search’ < PGmc *wlaitō(j)an-; cp. OE wlātian ‘to gaze, look (at)’, Go wláitōn.

PGmc Ancestor

*wlaitō(j)an-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

leita ‘to seek, search’ 
(ONP leita (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far leita, Icel leita, Norw leita, Dan lede, Sw lete

OE Cognate

wlātian ‘to gaze, look (at)’

Phonological and morphological markers

ON /ei/ &lt; PGmc */ai/

ON loss of initial */w/ before /l/

Summary category

A1*c

Attestation

ME from Orrm onwards, N and E only (see also Thorson 35); MnE N dial.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 355, 411, 449; Cl 97, 1768; Pat 180, 201, 277; Erk 155; WA 152, 372, 2341 etc.

All editors emend MS <lattid> to (and Horstmann reads) laitid at Erk 155 (see further McGee 438).

Bibliography

MED leiten (v.2) , OED lait (v.2) , HTOED , EDD (v. and sb.2), Dance layt, Bj. 47, 178, de Vries leita, Mag. leita, Bj-L. leite, Orel *wlaitōjanan, Kroonen *wlaitōn-, AEW wlātian