liver

US /ˈlɪvɚ/ UK /ˈlɪvə/ See IPA manual

Freq #3664

Meanings

1

noun
A large organ in the body that cleans the blood and helps digest food.

Drinking too much alcohol can damage your liver.
2

noun
This organ from an animal, eaten as food.

She fried some chicken liver with onions for dinner.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms livers

Derived forms antilivercross-liverhemiliverlily-liveredliver-facedliver-grownliver-heartedliveredliveringliverishliverleafliverless

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

liver fluke
a parasitic flatworm that lives in the liver or bile ducts

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English lyvere, lyver, from Old English lifer (“liver”), from Proto-West Germanic *libru, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smear, smudge, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Líeuwer, Lieuwer (“liver”), West Frisian lever (“liver”), Dutch lever (“liver”), German Leber (“liver”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish lever (“liver”) (the last three from Old Norse lifr (“liver”)). Related to live.

*leyp- Proto-Indo-European lyvere Middle English lifer Old English *libru Proto-West Germanic *librō Proto-Germanic *ley- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# liver

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlɪvɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlɪvə/
**Frequency rank:** 3664

## Meanings
1. A large organ in the body that cleans the blood and helps digest food.
2. This organ from an animal, eaten as food.

## Examples
- Drinking too much alcohol can damage your liver.
- She fried some chicken liver with onions for dinner.

## Derived Forms
- antiliver
- cross-liver
- hemiliver
- lily-livered
- liver-faced
- liver-grown
- liver-hearted
- livered
- livering
- liverish
- liverleaf
- liverless

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *leyp-
- Root: lyvere
- Root: lifer
- Root: *libru
- Root: *librō
- Root: *ley-

## Etymology
From Middle English lyvere, lyver, from Old English lifer (“liver”), from Proto-West Germanic *libru, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smear, smudge, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Líeuwer, Lieuwer (“liver”), West Frisian lever (“liver”), Dutch lever (“liver”), German Leber (“liver”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish lever (“liver”) (the last three from Old Norse lifr (“liver”)). Related to live.

## AI Etymology
Liver comes from Middle English lyvere, lyver, from Old English lifer (“liver”), from Proto-West Germanic *libru, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smear, smudge, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Líeuwer, Lieuwer (“liver”), West Frisian lever (“liver”), Dutch lever (“liver”), German Leber (“liver”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish lever (“liver”) (the last three from Old Norse lifr (“liver”)). Related to live. In present-day English its meanings include a large organ in the body that cleans the blood and helps digest food and this organ from an animal, eaten as food. The historical chain runs through *leyp- (Proto-Indo-European), lyvere (Middle English), lifer (Old English), *libru (Proto-West Germanic), and *librō (Proto-Germanic).

## Topics
- The Human Body

markdown