longien.

Etymology: Probably < the unattested Norn reflex of the early Scandinavian word represented by Old Icelandic langvé (Icelandic langvía , langvígi , †langvé ), Faroese lomvigi ( > post-classical Latin lomwia (from 1605 in accounts of the Faroes)), Norwegian †langivie , †lomgivie , †lomvifvie , †lomgive (all 18th cent.), †langve , †langvie (both 19th cent.), lomvie (18th cent.), (now usually) lomvi ( > Swedish regional lomvia (19th cent.)), early modern Danish †lomvibe (c1700; Danish lomvie , lomvi ) < the Germanic base of long adj.¹ + a second element of uncertain and disputed origin, perhaps imitative of the bird's call (see below). Compare earlier loom n.²; Scandinavian forms with lom- as first element probably show alteration by association with the name of the loom in various Scandinavian languages. Compare also earlier lavy n.The second element of the Scandinavian names of the bird has often been taken to be related to Middle Dutch wīe , wīwe , wüwe , wouwe (Dutch wouw ), Middle Low German wīe , wīge , Old High German wīo (Middle High German wīe , wīge , wīhe , German Weihe , (now archaic) Weih ), all in sense ‘harrier’, of uncertain and disputed origin. Both sets of names may in fact represent independent imitative formations. N.E.D. (1903) gives the pronunciation as (lɒ·ŋi) /ˈlʌŋɪ/, reflecting the β. forms formerly familiar from, e.g., quot. 1816.