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Lake Definition

lake

Contents

English

A mountain lake

Pronunciation

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”).

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?
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
body of water
See also
References

Etymology 2

From Old English lác, Proto-Germanic *laikan (“game, dance, hymn, sport, fight”).

Noun

Wikipedia has an article on: Lác

Wikipedia lake (plural lakes)

  1. (obsolete) An offering, sacrifice, gift.
  2. (obsolete, dialectal) Play, sport, fun, glee.
Derived terms

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.

Etymology 3

From Old English lachen

Noun

lake (plural lakes)

  1. (obsolete) Fine linen.

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.

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.
Derived terms
Translations
coloring agent
  • Arabic: صِبْغ اللَك (ʂíbğu l-lák) m.
  • Catalan: laca (ca) f.
  • Finnish: lakka (fi)
  • French: laque (fr) f.
  • German: Farbstoff (de) m.
  • Greek: ­­­­­λάκη (láki) f.
  • Hebrew: לכה (lakah) f.
  • Hungarian: lakk (hu)
  • Italian: lacca (it) f.
  • Japanese: ニス (nísu), 漆 (うるし, urushí)
  • Korean: 래커 (raekeo)
  • Macedonian: лак (mk) (lak) m.
  • Norwegian: fargestoff (no) n.
  • Polish: lakier (pl) m.
  • Portuguese: laca (pt) f.
  • Russian: лак (lak) m.
  • Spanish: laca (es) f.
  • Swahili: ziwa (sw)
  • Thai: ครั่ง (khràng)

Verb

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

  1. To make lake-red.

Anagrams

Dutch

Verb

lake

  1. singular present subjunctive of laken.

Anagrams

Norwegian

Noun

lake m.

  1. pickle, brine
  2. burbot, eelpout

Verb

lake

  1. To pickle.

Swedish

Swedish Wikipedia has an article on: Lake

Wikipedia sv

Noun

lake c.

  1. burbot (a freshwater fish: Lota lota)

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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