leikr

Inherited from Proto-Norse *ᛚᚨᛁᚲᚨᛉ (*laikaʀ) (attested in compounds), from Proto-Germanic *laikaz, from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“jump”). Compare Proto-Germanic *laikaną. Cognates include Old English lāc (“play, sport”), Old High German leih (“song, melody, music”) and Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌺𐍃 (laiks, “dance”).

leikr m

1. play, sport

This word is often used as a suffix, making nouns out of adjectives.

• leika

• Icelandic: leikur
• Faroese: leikur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: leik
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: leik
• Danish: leg
  • Norwegian Bokmål: lek
• Old Swedish: leker
  • Swedish: lek
  • → Finnish: leikki

From Latin laicus (“lay”).

leikr

1. lay

• leikdómr m (“laity”)
• leikfolk n (“laity”)
• leikligr (“lay”)
• leikmaðr m (“layman”)
• leikvald n (“lay power”)

• Norwegian Nynorsk: lek
• Norwegian Bokmål: lek
• Danish: læg

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

leikr

1. second/third-person singular present indicative active of leika

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “leikr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive