Laurence

See also: laurence

English

Alternative forms

• Lawrence (usual US spelling)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Old Latin dacrusder.

Latin laurus?

Latin Laurentum

Proto-Indo-European *-(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-ijos

Proto-Italic *-ios

Old Latin -ios

Latin -ius

Latin Laurentius

English Laurence

From the name of a third century Roman martyr, Latin Laurentius, "a person from Laurentum", the place name possibly derived from laurus (“laurel”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈlɒ.ɹəns/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈlɔɹəns/
• (New York City) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑɹəns/
• Rhymes: -ɒɹəns

Proper noun

Laurence (plural Laurences)

1. A male given name from Latin, feminine equivalent Lauren.
   • c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv]:

     Romeo: Bid her devise / Some means to come to shrift this afternoon; / And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell / Be shriv'd and married.

   • 1835, Mary Shelley, Lodore, Wallis&Newell, published 1835, page 30:

     "I will do any thing, however impossible, if you will only not call me Mr Hervey. Why am I not Laurence to you - Miss Vivian calls me Laurence - I am Laurence to every one but you - let me hear you call me Laurence," in an earnest manner.

2. A surname originating as a patronymic.

Derived terms

• Laurence Harbor

Related terms

• feminine forms: Lauren, Laura
• pet forms: Larry, Laurie, Lawrie, Lol
• surnames: Laurie, Lourie, Loury, Lowrie, Lowry
• variants: Lars, Loren, Lorenzo

Translations

male given name

• Albanian: Renës m, Renes m
• Arabic: لورانس
• Aragonese: Lorient m
• Armenian: Լորիս (Loris)
• Catalan: Llorenç (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 勞倫斯 / 劳伦斯 (zh) (Láolunsī), 老楞佐 (Lǎoléngzuǒ) (Catholic)

• Corsican: Lorenzu, Lurenzu
• Czech: Vavřinec (cs)
• Danish: Lars
• Dutch: Laurens (nl)
• Esperanto: Laŭrenco
• Estonian: Lauri (et)
• Faroese: Lavrans m, Laars m, Lars m
• Finnish: Lauri (fi)
• French: Laurent (fr)

  Old French: Lorenz

• Friulian: Lurinç
• Galician: Lourenzo (gl)
• German: Lorenz (de)
• Greek: Λαυρέντιος (el) (Lavréntios)
• Greenlandic: Laasi
• Hungarian: Lőrinc (hu)
• Icelandic: Lárus (is)
• Irish: Labhrás m
• Italian: Lorenzo (it)
• Japanese: ロレンス (Rorensu), ローラン (Rōran)
• Ladin: Laurënz
• Latin: Laurentius (la)
• Latvian: Lauris
• Ligurian: Loénso
• Lithuanian: Laurynas
• Lombard: Lorenz
• Neapolitan: Lurenzo
• Norman: Louothains
• Norwegian: Lars (no), Laurits
• Occitan: Laurenç m

  Old Occitan: Laurens

• Old Norse: Lafranz m
• Old Tupi: Rorẽso
• Polish: Laurencjusz (pl), Laurenty (pl), Wawrzyniec (pl)
• Portuguese: Lourenço (pt), Laurêncio (pt) m
• Romanian: Laurențiu (ro)
• Russian: Лавре́нтий (ru) (Lavréntij), Лоренс (ru) m (Lorens)
• Scottish Gaelic: Labhrainn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Ловро

  Latin: Lovro

• Slovak: Vavrinec
• Slovene: Lovrenc (sl)
• Spanish: Lorenzo (es)
• Swedish: Lars (sv)
• Ukrainian: Лавре́нтій (uk) m (Lavréntij)
• Venetan: Łorenso
• Vietnamese: Lôrensô

See also

• Laura and its variants

Anagrams

• cerulean, crenulae

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔ.ʁɑ̃s/, /lo.ʁɑ̃s/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Laurence f

1. a female given name, masculine equivalent Laurent, equivalent to English Lauren
2. (very rare) Lawrence: a male given name, equivalent to English Laurence

   Laurence Oustau (b. 1835)

Related terms

• feminine forms: Marie-Laurence, Anne-Laurence

Anagrams

• enculera