lief

Meanings

Adjective

• Beloved, dear, agreeable.
• Ready, willing.

Adverb

• Readily, willingly, rather.

Noun

• Alternative of lif

Origin

• From Middle English lef, leve, leef, from Old English lēof, from Proto-West Germanic *leub, from Proto-Germanic *leubaz.
• Cognate with Saterland Frisian ljo, ljoo, West Frisian leaf, Dutch lief, German Low German leev, German lieb, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk ljuv, Gothic 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍆𐍃, Russian любо́вь, Polish luby.
• For the adverb, compare German lieber, Dutch liever ("preferably, rather").