Etymology
1. 1398, of unknown origin. O.N. had
lag "felled tree" (from stem of
liggja "to lie"), but on phonological grounds etymologists deny that this is the root of Eng.
log. Instead, they suggest an independent formation meant to "express the notion of something massive by a word of appropriate sound."
Logging "act of cutting timber" is from 1706.
Logjam "congestion of logs on a river" is from 1885; in the figurative sense it is from 1890.
Logrolling in the legislative vote-trading sense first recorded 1823, from the notion of neighbors on the frontier helping one another with the heavy work of clearing land and building cabins (as in phrase
you roll my log and I'll roll yours).
Log cabin in Amer.Eng. has been a figure of the honest pioneer since the 1840 presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison.
2. From Middle English logge, logg (first recorded in Anglo-Latin as loggum), of uncertain origin, but probably from Old Norse lóg, lág (“felled tree, log”), derived from Old Norse liggja (“to lie”). If so, then cognate with Norwegian låg (“fallen tree”), Dutch loog (“wood, timber, lumber”).
3. Alternatively, directly from Norwegian låg (“fallen tree”), which could have been borrowed through the Norwegian timber trade. However the Old Norse/Middle Norwegian vowel is long while Middle English vowel is short.
Verbs referencing "log"
French
loguer, Italian
loggare.