köken: From Middle High German leime, from Old High German leimo, from Proto-West Germanic *laimō, from Proto-Germanic *laimô, variant of *laimaz. The modern vocalism is Central and Low German; compare Middle Low German lêm, from Old Saxon lēmo. The regular form was replaced due to its becoming homophonous with the related Leim (“glue”).
köken: From Old Danish leer, from Old Norse leir, from Proto-Germanic *laizą, cognate with Norwegian leire, Swedish lera. Probably from the Indo-European root *h₂leyH- (“to smear”).