lad

Pronunciation

• IPA: /læd/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ladde, of obscure or unknown origin,^[2][3][4] possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare Norwegian -ladd in compounds such as askeladd, the youngest son of folk tales, and tusseladd, a weakling.^[5][2] Liberman takes it from Norwegian ladd (“hose, woollen stocking”), since words for socks and shoes were used as nicknames for fools; the sense would have passed from “foolish youth” to “youngster of low status” and then to “young fellow”.^[6][2] The Old English name Ladda is two centuries older, but Liberman finds no evidence that the two are related.^[6][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A foot soldier, a serving man, a man of low position: probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder, and about 1300 in Havelok the Dane.^[5][7][2] It is a surname from the late 12th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A boy or youth is from before 1338 in Barnhart, about 1440 in the OED, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^[5][7][2] A spirited young man, a bit of a lad, is from the mid-16th century,^[7][8] and a stable groom from 1848.^[7] In Scots a lad is a sweetheart (1725).^[7] The lads, a group of men who share an activity, is from 1888.^[7] Laddie is from the 16th century,^[3] and the ladette, a young woman who behaves like a lad, from about 1995.^[8]

Timeline

• late 12th century – Ladde (surname).^[2]
• c. 1300 – a serving man.^[5][7]
• before 1338 – a boy or youth.^[5]
• mid-16th century – a spirited young man.^[7]
• 1848 – a stable lad.^[7]
• c. 1995 – ladette.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A boy or young man.
2. (informal) A man of any age; a fellow.
3. A lively, dashing young man: a bit of a lad.
4. (British) A young man who behaves in a rowdy, macho way.
5. (British) A person who looks after horses; a stable lad.

Word family

• laddish
• ladhood
• laddie

Related words

• lass
• lassie
• knave

Usage notes

In the Lake District a lad was a pile of stones on top of a mountain.^[9]

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 c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
6. ^ a b Liberman, Anatoly (2008), An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)