lith

¹ American  

[lith] / lɪθ /

noun

British Dialect.

1. an arm or leg; limb.

2. a joint, as of the finger.

3. a segment, as of an orange.

---

lith- ² American  

1. variant of litho- before a vowel.

   lithic.

---

-lith ³ American  

1. a combining form meaning “stone” (acrolith; megalith; paleolith ); sometimes occurring in words as a variant form of -lite (batholith; laccolith ).

---

lith. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. lithograph.

2. lithographic.

3. lithography.

---

Lith. ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Lithuania.

2. Lithuanian. Also Lith

---

-lith ¹ British  

combining form

1. indicating stone or rock Compare -lite

   megalith

---

Lith. ² British  

abbreviation

1. Lithuania(n)

---

Usage

Basic definitions of lith- and -lith Lith- and -lith are combining forms meaning “stone.” They come from the Greek líthos, meaning “stone.”What does lith- mean?Lith- is a combining form used like a prefix. It is used in medicine, especially in pathology, and in science, especially in geology.In pathology terms, lith- specifically refers to a calculus, "a stone, or concretion, formed in the gallbladder, kidneys, or other parts of the body." The word calculus itself literally means “little stone” in calculus.Lith- is a variant of litho-, which loses its -o- when combined with words or word elements beginning with vowels. Want to know more? Read our Words That Use litho- article.What does -lith mean?The combining form -lith is used like a suffix meaning “stone.” It is used in scientific and medical terms, especially in geology and pathology.In pathology, it specifically refers to a calculus, "a stone, or concretion, formed in the gallbladder, kidneys, or other parts of the body." The word calculus itself literally means “little stone” in calculus.In geology, -lith is occasionally used as a variant of -lite and its variant -lyte, combining forms used to name minerals or fossils.The corresponding form of -lith combined to the beginning of words is litho- and lith-. Learn more about their specific applications in our Words That Use articles for the terms.Closely related to -lith is -lithic, as in Paleolithic.

Etymology

Origin of lith¹

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch, Old High German lid, Old Norse lithr, Gothic lithus limb, member; akin to German Glied

Origin of -lith³

litho-

Example Sentences

Lond and lede, or ledes, or lith, frequently occur unequivocally in this latter sense, thus:— "He was the first of Inglond that gaf God his tithe Of isshue of bestes, of londes, or of lithe."

From Notes and Queries, Number 27, May 4, 1850 by Various

Thy own blood life-fluid wanting, thy own shi-i-nán án-ti-shi-mán a-k'iá tom lith hâ häl-lo-wa-ti-nán á-thle-a-ú thlâ á-thle-a-ú.

From Zuñi Fetiches Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1880-1881, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1883, pages 3-45 by Cushing, Frank Hamilton

What can it do to me, who am a man of lith and limb, and have by my side my father's sword?

From The Monastery by Scott, Walter, Sir

A Caitif that lith hiere: What wolde ye, my Ladi diere?

From Confessio Amantis, or, Tales of the Seven Deadly Sins by Macaulay, G. C. (George Campbell)

Nay, it is only the very oldest American families that can disclaim all complicity in having, as Lord Auchinleck put it, "garred kings ken that they had a lith in their necks."

From America To-day, Observations and Reflections by Archer, William