lewd

Meanings

Adjective

• Lascivious, sexually promiscuous, rude.
• Lay; not clerical.
• Uneducated.
• Vulgar, common; typical of the lower orders.
• Base, vile, reprehensible.

Noun

• A sexually suggestive image, particularly one which does not involve full nudity.

Verb

• To express lust; to behave in a lewd manner.
• Alternative of lude

Origin

• From Middle English lewed, lewd, leued, from Old English lǣwede, of obscure origin; most likely a derivative of the past participle of lǣwan in the sense of "exposed as being unlearned" or "easily betrayed, clueless", from Proto-Germanic *lēwijaną, from *lēwą, from Proto-Indo-European *lēw-. Or, according to the OED, from Vulgar Latin *laigo-, from Late Latin laicus ("of the people").
• Cognate with Old High German gilāen, firlāen, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽, Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍅.