lithe

[lahyth] /laɪð/
adjective, lither, lithest.
1.
bending readily; pliant; limber; supple; flexible:
the lithe body of a ballerina.
Also, lithesome.
Origin
before 900; Middle English lith(e), Old English līthe; cognate with Old Saxon līthi, German lind mild, Latin lentus slow
Related forms
lithely, adverb
litheness, noun
Can be confused
lithe, lissome.
British Dictionary definitions for lithesome

lithesome

/ˈlaɪðsəm/
adjective
1.
a less common word for lissom
Word Origin
C18: from lithe + -some1

lithe

/laɪð/
adjective
1.
flexible or supple
Derived Forms
lithely, adverb
litheness, noun
Word Origin
Old English (in the sense: gentle; C15: supple); related to Old High German lindi soft, Latin lentus slow
Word Origin and History for lithesome
adj.

1768, from lithe + -some (1). Related: Lithesomely; lithesomeness.

lithe

adj.

Old English liðe "soft, mild, gentle, meek," from Proto-Germanic *linthja- (cf. Old Saxon lithi "soft, mild, gentle," Old High German lindi, German lind, Old Norse linr, with characteristic loss of "n" before "th" in English), from PIE root *lent- "flexible" (cf. Latin lentus "flexible, pliant, slow," Sanskrit lithi). In Middle English, used of the weather. Current sense of "easily flexible" is from c.1300. Related: Litheness.