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A popular name for an ox, probably the Middle English word for ‘lightning’, an ironic nickname.
dates 1379 1545 1553 1567

let

To hinder, obstruct, prevent or stand in the way of.
dates 1419 1482 1569 1587 1642

A marshy stream, ditch or gutter.
places Galtres Oxenhope
dates 1200-1299 1633

Formerly the past participle of to let, that is to grant possession of for a payment.
dates 1597 1642 1686-1687

A kind of whitish-grey fur, from the skins of the snow-weasel.
places York
dates 1582

A type of linen imported from the Low Countries.
places Hull York Ripon
dates 1465 1470 1485 1489-1490

In coal-mining this was a nearly horizontal drift or gallery which might give access to the coal or help to drain a mine.
dates 1633 1697 1761

spellings ley land
Arable land, often in the town fields, which was left fallow or unploughed.
dates 1545 1590 1666

lib


An obsolete spelling of leopard, the animal which was once considered to be a hybrid between a lion and a ‘pard’ or panther (OED).
dates 1430 1433 1454 1568

Fodder for cows; chopped hay with bran, meal or anything tasty.
dates 1816

A by-name, said to mean 'parasite' and so was clearly perjorative.
dates 1332 1337

spellings lidyate
A swing-gate which was formerly put in place as a barrier to animals, set up between land under cultivation and the common or waste, or between two properties.
dates 1297 1297-1298 1332 1374 1397-1398 1450-1499 1459 1514 1545 1584 1623 1630

lie

To set in the oven, to bake.
places Fewston
dates 1721

For livelihood.

lig

To lie.
dates 1301 1432 1450 1479 1483 1500 1523

spellings lier
A board or beam.
places South Cave
dates 1610

To settle or alight.
dates 1642 1669 1729

spellings lights
In a place-name including 'tree', to indicate light tree cover.
places Horbury Ossett
dates 1386 1525

A flat-bottomed boat, used to transport goods in harbours or along the estuaries and rivers.
places Beverley
dates 1747

One who owned or worked on a lighter.
places Hull
dates 1553 1558

To have a liking for, to favour.
places Easingwold
dates 1614

An apparatus formerly used in distilling, a short form of ‘alembic’.
dates 1520 1529 1567

To put lime into a stream or river, poisoning the fish so that they could be easily taken by poachers.
dates 1698 1794

spellings limebearer limeporter
One who burns limestone to make lime.
dates 1299 1389 1409 1432

In York this was a building where lime was stored for the masons who were working on major projects.
places York Bridlington
dates 1421 1541-1542

An occupational term for a lime burner.
places York Bingley
dates 1384 1655

A solution of lime and water in a pit was used by tanners to facilitate the removal of hair from the hides, also causing them to swell in readiness for tanning.
dates 1422 1542 1595 1660 1670

A rock, chiefly consisting of carbonate of lime, used to make quicklime.
places Catterick
dates 1422

The lime tree or the wood of the lime tree, also called the linden.
dates 1090 1190-1202 1337 1465


The rare word ‘beat’ was used of a bundle of flax or hemp made up ready for steeping (OED).
places Rothwell
dates 1258

A retail trader who deals in linen.
places Wrenthorpe
dates 1576

Tow was the fibre of flax, hemp or jute, prepared for spinning, and it gave its name to a type of linen material.
dates 1587 1596 1658 1686

A long slender fish found in the seas of northern Europe.
dates 1416-1417 1580 1613

This common moorland plant had varied uses, notably as material for thatching.
places Whitby Conistone
dates 1394-1395 1689

spellings lince-pin nail lin-pin
The linch-pin or nail which secured the wheel to the axle-tree, noted from 1496 in the OED.
dates 1485 1558 1580 1637 1653

Originally a material woven from a mixture of flax [line] and wool.
dates 1611 1631 1637

Possibly the male linnet.

The root or rhizome of the plant Glycyrrhiza glabra, literally the sweet root, used medicinally and as a sweetmeat.
dates 1457-1458 1463 1467 1617

The hem or selvage of material.
dates 1433 1506 1562 1598 1758-1762

Short for ‘enlist’.
dates 1675 1697

A verb, to choose, desire or please.

The material of which the list or selvage of cloth is made.
dates 1444 1506 1615

lit

As a verb it means to colour or dye.
dates 1617 1621 1708

To thicken broth or milk with flour.
dates 1683 1711

A regional word for dye-house, pronounced 'littus' locally.
dates 1540 1553 1635 1675

A dyer.
places York Elland
dates 1379 1393-1394 1427 1462

spellings litting pan
A vat or a pan used in the dyeing process.
places Dalton Leeds
dates 1573 1588

A spelling of ‘little master’ which reflects the dialect pronunciation. The term was used almost exclusively in the Sheffield district for the independent craftsmen in the cutlery trades.

Means of living, maintenance.
dates 1479 1489

Short for ‘deliver’, meaning to hand over.
places Rotherham
dates 1676

A distinctive suit of clothes given by a gentleman to his servants, in order that they might be recognised as his retainers.
dates 1484-1485 1530-1531 1531 1555 1612 1614 1617 1621

To load, with 'loadened' as the past form.
dates 1555-1556 1627 1690

Photo by Kreuzschnabel CC BY-SA 3.0