Etymologically
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lab

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 02:19. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is a shortening of laboratory.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A laboratory: 1895 in the OED, Barnhart and Etymonline.[4][3][2]

Semantic evolution

It is used as an informal word and often in combinations such as lab assistant.[3][4][5] Lab is also short for a Labrador dog, from 1950.[4][6]

Timeline

  • 1895 – a laboratory.[4][3]
  • 1950 – a Labrador dog.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal) A laboratory.
  2. (informal) A Labrador retriever.

Word family

  • lab coat

Usage notes

A much older lab, a blab or tell-tale, with a verb “to blab” from 1377, is long obsolete except in dialect.[4][5] Lab with a capital is short for the British Labour Party, from 1892.[4][5]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins