loth

The adjective 'loth' originates from the Old English word 'lāth', meaning 'hateful, repulsive, hostile'. This Old English term is cognate with Old Saxon 'lēth', Old Norse 'leiðr', and Dutch 'leed', all sharing a sense of something unpleasant or grievous. The meaning evolved from describing a quality inherent in an object ("hateful") to describing a feeling of aversion or reluctance in a person ("unwilling"). It is now a less common variant of 'loath', with both spellings sharing the same pronunciation and meaning, though 'loath' is the dominant form in contemporary usage.

The word 'loth' is a simplex word of Old English origin. It is not productively formed from separable morphemes in modern English.