lasso

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈlæs.oʊ/, /læˈsuː/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish lazo (“snare, slipknot”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Latin laqueus (“noose, snare”).^[3][4][5][6] The AHD traces it through Vulgar Latin *laceum.^[2] It is related to lace.^[2][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A long rope of untanned hide with a noose at the end, used to catch cattle and wild horses (1768, as laço).^[7][4]

Semantic evolution

The word is originally American English.^[3][4] The modern spelling is recorded from 1808 for the noun;^[4][5] the verb, to catch with a lasso, appears in 1807,^[7][3][4][5] and was soon used figuratively.^[7] Barnhart dates the noun only from 1819.^[3] Etymonline notes that a lasso can serve as a lariat, but not the other way round.^[4]

Timeline

• 1768 – laço, the rope with a noose.^[7][4]
• 1807 – verb.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1808 – the spelling lasso.^[4][5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A long rope with a running noose at one end, used especially to catch horses and cattle; a lariat.
2. A tool in image-editing software for selecting an irregular area by drawing round it.

Verb

1. To catch with a lasso, or as if with one.

Word family

• lassoer

Related words

• lace
• lariat
• noose

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press