lief
[leef]
- gladly; willingly: I would as lief go south as not.
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- willing; desirous.
- dear; beloved; treasured.
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Origin of lief
before 900; Middle English leef, Old English lēof; cognate with Dutch lief, German lieb, Old Norse ljufr, Gothic liufs; akin to love
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lief
Contemporary Examples
“They learn about what it is that drove them to these lengths,” says Lief.
Historical Examples
So we said we'd as lief wait a spell, though a clean pinny wasn't needed.
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
For he would as lief be a victim of success, he assures us, as to forego his mojadderah.
The Book of KhalidAmeen Rihani
It's like ye'd as lief be in this snug room as on the fell to-neet, Ralph?
The Shadow of a CrimeHall Caine
How should the "faithful esquire" whose faith is mistrusted still be lief and dear?
HieroXenophon
But I'd as lief encounter a West India hurricane or a simoom.
lief
- rare gladly; willinglyI'd as lief go today as tomorrow
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- archaic
- ready; glad
- dear; beloved
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Word Origin
Old English leof; related to lufu love
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for lief
adj.
Old English leof "dear, valued, beloved, pleasant;" also as a noun, "a beloved person, friend," from Proto-Germanic *leubo- (cf. Old Norse ljutr, Old Frisian liaf, Dutch lief, Old High German liob, German lieb, Gothic liufs "dear, beloved"), from PIE root *leubh- "love" (see love (n.)). As an adverb, "dearly, willingly" from c.1250. I want and I'd love to are overworked and misused to fill the hole left in the language when I would lief faded in 17c.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper