Lizard
late Middle English: from Old French lesard(e ), from Latin lacertus ‘lizard, sea fish’, also ‘muscle’.
wiktionary
From Middle English lesarde, lisarde, from Anglo-Norman lusard, from Old French lesard (compare French lézard), from Latin lacertus. Displaced native Middle English aske(“newt, lizard”); see ask.
etymonline
lizard (n.)
"an animal resembling a serpent, with legs added to it" [Johnson], late 14c., lusarde, from Anglo-French lusard, Old French laisarde "lizard" (Modern French lézard), from Latin lacertus (fem. lacerta) "lizard," a word of unknown origin. The ending in French and English is probably influenced by words in -ard.
It is identical to Latin lacertum "upper arm, muscular part of the arm, from the shoulder to the elbow" (opposed to bracchium), which suggests a pattern similar to that of Latin musculus "a muscle," literally "little mouse" (diminutive of mus "mouse"), so called because the shape and movement of the biceps were thought to resemble mice. It is unclear which Latin sense, the arm-muscle or the lizard, is original. De Vaan finds the words perhaps connected to Greek likertizein "to jump, dance," which Beekes finds likely from Pre-Greek.
Run fast, stand still. This, the lesson from lizards. [Ray Bradbury]
