list 2

Definite, Although the word can be clearly followed in the various languages, the exact history is uncertain. In all cases the verb is derived from the noun list (q.v.) 'stip of cloth, edging', which is common Germanic (OE liste, etc.) and was borrowed into French before the Norman conquest. Consequently, it is likely that a Middle English verb listen and French verb lister were parallel formations in each language, rather than one borrowing from the other. A simplex verb headword *listen (Middle English) or lister (Anglo-French) is not found in either MED or AND as most medieval citations are past-(participle)-as-adjective, meaning 'edged, bordered, having had a list affixed'. The OED headword is 'List v.3', and in standard Modern French dictionaries use form of liter (< Continental Middle French lister). The Latin is most likely a parallel formation based on French, using the Latin borrowing of list, lista. Certain non-textile uses of the word (though with senses of bordering, edging) in English continued to at least the late nineteenth century.