From Old English 'laefan' (to cause to remain), from PIE *leyp- (to stick) — the one who goes is who causes things to stay.
To go away from; to depart from a place, person, or situation; to allow to remain.
From Old English 'lǣfan' meaning 'to leave behind, remain, bequeath,' from Proto-Germanic *laibijaną (to cause to remain), a causative form derived from *lībaną (to remain). The PIE root is *leyp- meaning 'to stick, adhere, remain.' The original sense was not 'to go away' but 'to cause something to stay behind' — the modern meaning of departure developed because when you cause things
German 'bleiben' (to stay, remain) and English 'leave' share the same PIE root *leyp- (to stick, remain). German preserved the original meaning 'to remain' while adding a prefix, and English reversed the perspective entirely — from 'to cause something to remain behind' to 'to go away.' The same root also produced Greek