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by palmagma on November 14th, 2009
The word lukewarm has a long and respectable history,
going right back to the 14th century.
The adjective luke sems to be an alternative form of lew,
Old English hleow, which meant 'tepid'.
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/lukewarm
by anguilla on November 14th, 2009
Etymology:
Middle English: "luke warme"
from "luke" = tepid
akin to Low German "luk", Dutch: "leuk" = tepid
from IndoEuropean: "kleu-"
from base "kel-" = warm
from Old English: "hleowe" = tepid,
Latin: "calere" = to be warm
by Possum on November 14th, 2009
It's a cleaned-up version of "puke-warm" meaning warm to the touch but not hot.
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