lake

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[edit] English

A mountain lake

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Etymology 1

From Middle English lake (“lake, watercourse, body of water”), from Old English lacu (“lake, pond, pool, stream, watercourse”), from Proto-Germanic *lakō, *lakiz (“stream, pool, water aggregation", originally "ditch, drainage, seep”), from Proto-Germanic *lekanan (“to leak, drain”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg-, *leǵ- (“to leak”). Cognate with Dutch laak (“lake, pond, stream”), Middle Low German lāke (“standing water, water pooled in a riverbed”), German Lache (“pool, puddle”), Icelandic lækur (“stream, brook, flow”). See also leak, leach.

Despite their similarity in form and meaning, English lake is not related to Latin lacus (“hollow, lake, pond”), Scottish Gaelic loch (“lake”), Ancient Greek λάκκος (lákkos, “waterhole, tank, pond, pit”), all from Proto-Indo-European *lakw- (“lake, pool”). Instead, this root is represented by Old English lagu (“sea, flood, water, ocean”), through Proto-Germanic *laguz, *lahō (“sea, water”).

[edit] Noun

lake (plural lakes)

  1. A large, landlocked, naturally-occurring stretch of water.
  2. (Should we delete(+) this sense?) (In the plural) an area characterised by its many lakes; e.g., the English Lake District is often shortened to The Lakes.
  3. A large amount of liquid; as, a wine lake.
    • 1991, Robert DeNiro (actor), Backdraft:
      So you punched out a window for ventilation. Was that before or after you noticed you were standing in a lake of gasoline?
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
body of water
[edit] See also
[edit] References
  • [2009], Kenneth, Sisam, Fourteenth Century Verse and Prose, BiblioBazaar, ISBN 1110730802, 9781110730803:
  • [1999], Astell, Ann W., Political allegory in late medieval England, Cornell University Press, ISBN 0801435609, 9780801435607, page 192:
  • [1961], Cameron, Kenneth, English Place Names, B. T. Batsford Limited, SBN 416 27990 2, page 164:
  • [2009], Maetzner, Eduard Adolf Ferdinand, An English Grammar; Methodical, Analytical, and Historical, BiblioBazaar, LLC, ISBN 1113149965, 9781113149961, page 200:
  • [1992], Rissanen, Matti, History of Englishes: new methods and interpretations in historical linguistics, Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 3110132168, 9783110132168, page 513-514:
  • [1858], Ferguson, Robert, English surnames: and their place in the Teutonic family, G. Routledge & co., page 368:

[edit] Etymology 2

From Middle English lake, lak, lac (also loke, laik, layke), from Old English lāc (“play, sport, strife, battle, sacrifice, offering, gift, present, booty, message”), from Proto-Germanic *laikan (“play, fight”), *laikaz (“game, dance, hymn, sport”), from Proto-Indo-European *loig-, *leig- (“to bounce, shake, tremble”). Cognate with Old High German leih (“song, melody, music”). More at lay.

[edit] Noun

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia lake (plural lakes)

  1. (obsolete) An offering, sacrifice, gift.
  2. (dialectal) Play; sport; game; fun; glee.
[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Verb

lake (third-person singular simple present lakes, present participle laking, simple past and past participle laked)

  1. (obsolete) To present an offering.
  2. (chiefly dialectal) To leap, jump, exert oneself, play.

[edit] Etymology 3

From Old English lachen

[edit] Noun

lake (plural lakes)

  1. (obsolete) Fine linen.

[edit] Etymology 4

From French laque (“lacquer”), from Persian لاک (lāk), from Hindi lakh, from Sanskrit laksha (“one hundred thousand”), referring to the number of insects that gather on the trees and make the resin seep out.

[edit] Noun

lake (plural lakes)

  1. In dyeing and painting, an often fugitive crimson or vermillion pigment derived from an organic colorant (cochineal or madder, for example) and an inorganic, generally metallic mordant.
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] Translations
coloring agent

[edit] Verb

lake (third-person singular simple present lakes, present participle laking, simple past and past participle laked)

  1. To make lake-red.

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Verb

lake

  1. singular present subjunctive of laken.

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Norwegian

[edit] Noun

lake m.

  1. pickle, brine
  2. burbot, eelpout

[edit] Verb

lake

  1. To pickle.

[edit] Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia sv

[edit] Noun

lake c.

  1. burbot (a freshwater fish: Lota lota)

[edit] Declension

Declension of lake
singular plural
Common indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative lake laken lakar lakarna
genitive lakes lakens lakars lakarnas
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