Etymologically
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loud

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /laʊd/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English loud, earlier lude, inherited from Old English hlūd (“noisy, sounding”),[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz (“heard”),[2][3] also the source of Old Frisian and Old Saxon hlūd, Dutch luid and German laut.[2][3][4] It is from Proto-Indo-European *klutos- (“heard”), a suffixed form of *ḱlew- “to hear”,[2][4] which also gave Greek klytós “famous”, Latin inclutus “renowned” and cluēre “to be called”, Sanskrit śrutá- “heard”, Armenian lu “known”, Old Irish cloth “fame” and Welsh clod “praise”.[2][3][4] Old Church Slavonic slava “glory” and slovo “word” are from the same root.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Making a lot of noise, of voices or instruments: before 725 in Barnhart;[3] the OED has the adjective in 971 and, of instruments, the sea and winds, about 897.[5] The adverb, loudly, is also Old English.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Of places, full of noise, is from the 1590s.[2][5] Clamorous or insistent, as of complaints, is from 1530.[5] Of smells or flavours, strong or offensive, is from 1641, now chiefly American.[5] Of colours, clothes or manners, flashy or showy, is by 1849.[2][5] An obsolete sense was “flagrant, palpable”, chiefly of a lie (1535).[5] It has been paired with clear at least since about 1650.[2]

Timeline

  • a. 725 – making a lot of noise.[3]
  • 1530 – clamorous.[5]
  • 1535 – flagrant, of a lie.[5]
  • 1590s – of places, noisy.[2]
  • 1641 – of smells, strong.[5]
  • 1849 – of colours, flashy.[2][5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Making or being a sound of great volume.
  2. Noisy, insistent or emphatic: loud complaints.
  3. Unpleasantly bright or showy: a loud tie.

Adverb

  1. Loudly: out loud.

Word family

  • loudly
  • loudness
  • louden
  • loudish
  • loudmouthed
  • overloud
  • aloud
  • loudmouth

Usage notes

Loud describes sound of great volume, often unpleasant; stentorian suggests a powerful voice, strident a harsh or grating sound, and earsplitting a sound so loud as to hurt.[6]

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 h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin