lily: [OE] Lily probably originated in a pre-Indo- European language of the Mediterranean seaboard. Latin acquired it (either independently or via Greek leírion) as līlium, and passed it on to English in the 10th century. It is now common to virtually all western European languages, including German (lilie), Dutch (lelie), Swedish (lilja), Spanish (lirio), Italian (the more radically altered giglio), and French (lis, acquired by English in fleur-de-lis, literally ‘lily flower’ [19]).
