Forms: 1 líðe, lýðe, 2–5 liðe, 4 liȝth, 4–7 lith, lythe, 5–7 lyth, 8–9 dial. lyth(e, 4– lithe. Also 3 i-liðe. [OE. líðe = OS. lîthi, OHG. lindi (MHG. linde, mod.G. lind) soft, gentle, mild:—OTeut. type *linþjo-, f. Teut. and WAryan root *len-, whence LIN v., ON. lin-r soft, L. lentus slow.]
† 1. Of persons, their actions, dispositions and utterances: Gentle, meek, mild. Const. dat. or to. Obs.
Beowulf, 3183. Manna mildust … leodum liðost.
a. 1000. Apollonius of Tyre (1834), 2/25. Ða cliopode heo hi hire to mid liðere spræce.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. v. 5. Eadiʓe synt þa liðan.
c. 1200. Ormin, 7754. Forr lamb iss soffte & stille deor, & liþe & meoc & milde.
c. 1205. Lay., 4. He wes Leouenaðes sone liðe him beo drihten. Ibid., 4917. Þu eært me swiðe iliðe [c. 1275 liþe] & ich þe leouie swiðe.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 428. Swuch ouh wummone lore to beon—luuelich & liðe.
a. 1325. Prose Psalter cxliv. [cxlv.] 9. Our Lord is liþe to alle.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 9706. The first of þo fre, þat to þe freike said, Was Vlyxes, the lord, with his lythe wordes.
2. Of things, chiefly material things: Mild, soft; also, agreeable, mellow, pleasant. Of a medicine: Gentle in operation. Obs. exc. dial.
c. 888. K. Ælfred, Boeth., xl. § 3. Hwæðer him cume þe reðu w[y]rd þe liðu.
a. 1000. Cædmon’s Gen., 211 (Gr.). Þæt liðe land.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 129. Ðet weter of egipte wes liðe and swete.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 707. Water þai asked swiþe,… Wit mete and drink liþe.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, I. 118. To make lythe of that was harde.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 87. If þe quytture be þicke & towȝ, þanne is þe medicyn to liþe.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 3762. The savour soft and lythe Strook to myn herte withoute more.
1642. Rogers, Naaman, 172. How lythe and cheerfull would the soule be in going to Zoar out of Sodome.
1664. Spelman, Gloss., s.v. Ledo, lenis (nobis hodie, Lithe).
1844. Thom, Rhymes of a Weaver, 72. They miss the lythe licht o’ their May. Ibid. (1878), Jock o’ Knowe, 56 (E. D. D.). Lithe Time stole away.
† b. Of weather: Calm, serene. [Cf. OE. Líða, June and July.] Of water: Smooth, still. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 7242. Þæt weder wes swiðe liðe. Ibid., 24198. Þa … þat gras was riue and þat water wes liðe.
a. 1300. E. E. Psalter cvi. 29. His stremes leften lithe.
13[?]. Coer de L., 4859. The wynd gan wexe lythe.
a. 1440. Sir Eglam., 1056. To the see they went fulle yare And passyd the watur lythe.
c. 1460. Emare, 348. The wedur was lythe of le.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., ii. Hist. Scot., 203/2. It prooved as lithe a daie, without appearance of anie tempest to insue.
c. Comfortable, genial, sheltered, warm. Sc.
c. 1430. Syr Tryam., 417. Sche toke up hur sone to hur And lapped hyt fulle lythe.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, II. 276. Syn in a bed thai brocht him fair and lyth.
a. 1774. Fergusson, Wks. (1807), 262. Like thee they scour frae street or field, And hap them in a lyther bield.
1867. G. W. Donald, Poems, 218. Licht an’ lythe was Peggie’s bosom.
1871. W. Alexander, Johnny Gibb, xi. (1873), 66. They’re fine lythe parks, an’ ear’ tee; beasts mith live o’ them throu’ the winter naar.
1884. D. Grant, Lays & Leg. North, 274. Winter drives them o’er the sea To seek the lyther land.
3. Easily bent; flexible, limber, pliant, supple. (The current sense, the only one in Johnson.)
c. 1400. St. Alexius (Laud 622), 6. Of bodies stronge & liȝth.
1579. Spenser, Sheph. Cal., Feb., 74. His dewelap as lythe, as lasse of Kent.
1599. Withals’ Dict., 109 b. The bills of birds we see full oft, While they bee yong are lith and soft.
1667. Milton, P. L., IV. 347. Th’ unwieldy Elephant … wreath’d His Lithe Proboscis.
1667. R. Norwood, in Phil. Trans., II. 567. To the Harping-Iron is made fast a strong lythe rope.
1814. Cary, Dante, Par., XXVI. 85. Like the leaf, That bows its lithe top till the blast is blown.
1833. Tennyson, Poems, 36. As lithe eels over meadows gray Oft shift their glimmering pool by night.
1856. Bryant, Poems, Hymn to Death, 37. The perjurer, Whose tongue was lithe, e’en now, and voluble Against his neighbour’s life.
1871. R. Ellis, trans. Catullus, lxi. 106. He more lithe than a vine amid Trees.
4. Of broth, soup, etc.: Smooth, thick. dial.
a. 1648. Digby, Closet Open. (1669), 259. Stir it up quick with your hands, like a lith pudding.
1805. J. Stagg, Misc. Poems (1808), 56. Bit swoaps o’ drink an’ guod lythe keale.
5. Comb.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, XV. 839. Or swans lithe-necked grazing the river’s verge.
1897. Daily News, 26 May, 7/6. There are sixteen of them here—officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, and men—tall, lithe-looking, sun-burnt figures.
