▪ I. lith, n.1 Obs. exc. arch. or dial.
(lɪθ)
Forms: 1 leoð, 1–4 lið, 3–6, 9 lithe, 3–6 lyth, 4 liþþe, 5 leth, lythe, 5, 7, 9 leith, 6 lethe, 4– lith.
[OE. liþ neut. = OFris. lith, lid neut., OS. lið masc. (Du. lid neut.), OHG. lid masc. and neut., ON. lið-r masc. (Sw. and Da. led masc.), Goth. liþus masc.:—OTeut. *liþu-:—pre-Teut. *litu- f. root *lī̆-:—see limb n. A compound of this word with the prefix ga- (= y-) is OHG. gilid (G. glied limb, member).]
1. A limb. lith from lith, † from lith to lith: limb from limb.
| a 900 Cynewulf Crist 1032 (Gr.) Sceal þonne anra ᵹehwylc..leoðum onfon & lichoman. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xxx[i]. (Schipper) 534 He wæs byᵹendlic on þam ᵹeþeodnessum his liþa [v.rr. leoða, lima]. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. (Kölbing) 8494 Wawains breþer on & oþer smiten euerich liþ fram oþer. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 99 Sche hath no lith withoute a lak. c 1410 Sir Cleges 292, I schall the bette euery leth, Hede and body, wythout greth. c 1430 Life St. Kath. (1884) 53 To make al hir body to be rent lyth from lyth. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) i. vi. 38/1 The horryble wheles whiche the tyraunt Maxencius ordeyned to rente her from lyth to lyth. 1732 E. Erskine Serm. Wks. 1871 II. 177 Everything was in its proper joint and lith, subservient unto the great end of their creation. |
2. A joint; frequent in lith and limb, etc.; also lith and bone. out of lith: out of joint.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 242 On ðone lið þæra eaxla. c 1220 Bestiary 626 He ne hauen no lið ðat he muȝen risen wið. a 1300 Cursor M. 12612 Weri was sco bath lith and ban. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxiv. (Alexis) 518 Quhat sek mane þat twechit hym, His hele he gat in lith and lyme. 1470–85 Malory Arthur iii. xiv, Allas syr sayd the lady myn arme is oute of lythe. 15.. How Gd. Wyfe taught Dau. 38 in Q. Eliz. Acad. 45 Loke þou mekly ansuere hym, And meue hym noþer lyth ne lymme. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 135 Thow art moir lerge of lyth and lym Nor I am, be sic thre. 1718 Ramsay Christ's Kirk Gr. iii. xxiv, Ilka member, lith and lim. a 1782 Ld. Auchinleck in Croker Boswell (1831) III. 79 note, God, doctor! he gart kings ken that they had a lith in their neck. 1828 J. Wilson in Blackw. Mag. XXIV. 683, I..finally sunk away into voluptuous diffusion of lith and limb on that celestial sofa. a 1828 Bonny Bows o Lond. xvii. in Child Ballads I. 135/2 He's taen a lith o her little finger bane. |
b. fig. esp. in phrase to hit the lith or to hit upon the lith, an expression borrowed from carving.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 262 Þus, lo þe articles, þet beoð, ase þauh me seide, þe liðes of ure bileaue onont Godes monheade. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 221 To hold off an erroneous conclusion in the least wing or lith of sweet sweet truth. 1727 P. Walker Life Peden in Biogr. Presb. I. 122 And seldom hit upon the right lith or joint. Ibid. 140 Of late, I have heard some liths and nicks of the Gospel made plain. |
c. The last joint or tip (of the finger).
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xvi. 24 Send lazarum þæt he dyppe his fingres lið on wætere & mine tungan ᵹehæle. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxix, A scar abune the brow, that ye might hae laid the lith of your finger in. |
3. Sc. A division (of an orange, etc.); one of the rings surrounding the base of a cow's horn.
| 1795 G. Robertson Agric. Surv. Mid-Lothian 155 The horns (of the Mysore cow in particular) are without annulets, or liths as we call them. a 1859 J. P. Nichol (Ogilv.), The reader will at once comprehend the reason by cutting an orange through its centre obliquely to its axis. Each lith is of equal size, but the exposed surface of each on the freshly-cut circle will not be so. 1890 H. Drummond in Life xv. (1899) 376 A green banana leaf..wound once round the head after being cut into four or five ‘liths’. |
▪ II. † lith, n.2 Obs.
[OE. hliþ neut.:—OTeut. type *hliþo{supm}, f. root *hlī̆- (see lean v.1, ladder):—pre-Teut. *klei-; cf. the ablaut var. ON. hl{iacu}ð of the same meaning.]
A slope.
| Beowulf (Z.) 1893 No he mid hearme of hliðes nosan gæstas grette. a 1000 Andreas 841 (Gr.) Fore burᵹᵹeatum beorᵹas steape, hleoðu hlifodon. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 117 Þere weren men of eche londe þat is under heuene liðe. c 1205 Lay. 32219 Ȝeond wudes & ȝeond liðen. [1789 White Selborne (1853) 171 A steep abrupt pasture-field..known by the name of Short Lithe. Ibid., Steep pastures are called the Lithe.] |
▪ III. † lith, n.3 Obs.
Also 3 lið, leoð.
[ON. lið a host, also help, f. root of l{iacu}ða to go, travel, go on an expedition (see lead v.1).]
1. A body of men.
| c 1205 Lay. 5307 We wullet gan a leoðe. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvi. 181 Þre leodes in o lith non lenger þan other, Of one mochel & myȝte in mesure and in lengthe. |
2. Help, remedy.
| c 1205 Lay. 5213 Nes þer nan oðer lið Ȝif heo nalden ȝernen grið. |
▪ IV. † lith, n.4 Obs.
Also 4–5 lithe, lythe.
[Of somewhat uncertain origin; most prob. a. ON. l{yacu}ð-r people, vassals collectively (see lede); but it may wholly or partly be a use of lith n.3 1.]
People, subjects, vassals. Only in alliterative phrases. (Cf. lede 1 b.)
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13165 Noþer i ask þe lith na land. c 1300 Havelok 2515 Lond and lith, and oþer catel. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 194 Þer wille wille not be went, ne lete lond ne lith [Fr. tere ne tenement]. 1357 Lay Folks Catech. 252 In cas that we have..Wittandly and willfalli gere our euen cristen..falsly be desesed of land or of lithe. c 1420 Anturs of Arth. liii. (MS. Douce), Here I gif Sir Galerone..Al þe londes and þe lithes fro lauer to layre. c 1440 Bone Flor. 841 Who schall us now geve londes or lythe, Hawkys, or howndes? 1456 Sir G. Haye Law of Arms (S.T.S.) 148, I am lyke to tyne up all, bathe..land, lythe, and place. |
▪ V. lith, n.5
(lɪθ)
[Abbrev. of lithography n.]
A photographic film that is thinly coated with emulsion for producing images of extremely high contrast and density, used in lithographic printing. Usu. attrib., esp. in lith film.
| 1955 Jrnl. Photogr. Sci. III. 98/1 The modern ‘lith’ type of dry plate emulsion. 1959 E. Jaffe et al. Color Separation Photogr. 167 Lith-type developers refer to the high-contrast, formaldehyde developers. 1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset ix. 123 A ‘lith’ film must have a gamma above 10 which is necessary to build up screen dots having an extremely steep density gradient. Ibid. 124 With ‘lith’ developer blackening starts in the areas of maximum action of light, spreading gradually until the areas of minimum light action are developed. 1977 Transatlantic Rev. lx. 196 The Gorilla story had to be entirely re-set when the lith-film had gone through the plate-makers' department totally blank. 1979 Amat. Photographer 10 Jan. 74/2 If you want to do any ortho film work (like lith films) you can work under safelight conditions, but check on the correct ortho safelight filter before you buy. 1991 Photo Answers Mar. 38 (caption) Lith is great for many subjects but here it has been used to create a really eye-catching portrait. |
▪ VI. lith
obs. forms of light n. and a.2
▪ VII. lith
obs. f. 3rd pers. sing. pres. ind. of lie.