Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Loath"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Loath \Loath\ (l[=o]th), a. [OE. looth, loth, AS. l[=a]?
hostile, odious; akin to OS. l[=a][eth], G. leid, Icel.
lei[eth]r, Sw. led, G. leiden to suffer, OHG. l[=i]dan to
suffer, go, cf. AS. l[=i][eth]an to go, Goth. leipan, and E.
lead to guide.]
1. Hateful; odious; disliked. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
2. Filled with disgust or aversion; averse; unwilling;
reluctant; as, loath to part.
Full loth were him to curse for his tithes.
--Chaucer.
Why, then, though loath, yet must I be content.
--Shak.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
loath
adj 1: unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom; "a
reluctant smile"; "loath to admit a mistake";
"unwilling to face facts" [syn: {loth}, {reluctant}]
2: (usually followed by `to') strongly opposed; "antipathetic
to new ideas"; "averse to taking risks"; "loath to go on
such short notice"; "clearly indisposed to grant their
request" [syn: {antipathetic}, {antipathetical}, {averse(p)},
{indisposed(p)}, {loath(p)}, {loth(p)}]
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