lounge

Pronunciation

• IPA: /laʊndʒ/^[1]

Etymology

It is a Scottish word of uncertain or unknown origin.^[2][3][4][5] Barnhart suggests French s'allonger (“to stretch out, lie at full length”), from Old French alongier (“to lengthen”), from Latin longus (“long”) (see long).^[2][3] Another etymology goes through obsolete lungis, a slow, lazy person (about 1560), from Middle French longis (“an idle dreamer”), from the name of Longinus, the centurion of the mystery plays.^[3] The NODE thinks it perhaps imitates slow movement.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To move indolently, to loll: 1508, in Scots.^[2][7][5][3]

Semantic evolution

To recline lazily is from 1746.^[7][3] The noun, a place for lounging, is from 1775, in Sheridan's The Rivals;^[2][7] a pastime from 1788,^[7] and the act of lounging from 1806.^[3][7] A sofa for lying at full length is from 1830,^[7][3] and the drawing room of a house or the sitting room of a hotel from 1881.^[2][7] The lounge suit is from 1893,^[7] and the lounge lizard, at first a man who hung about tea rooms to flirt, by 1917.^[3] In northern dialect a lounge was a large lump or slice, as of bread.^[8]

Timeline

• 1508 – to loll (Scots).^[2][7]
• 1746 – to recline lazily.^[7]
• 1775 – a place for lounging.^[2][7]
• 1830 – a sofa.^[7]
• 1881 – a sitting room.^[2][7]
• by 1917 – lounge lizard.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To sit, lie or stand in a relaxed, lazy way; to loll.
2. To pass time idly.

Noun

1. A public room for waiting or relaxing, as in a hotel or airport.
2. (chiefly British) A living room in a private house.
3. (British) A lounge bar, the more comfortable bar of a pub or hotel.
4. A couch or sofa.

Word family

• lounger
• loungy
• loungewear
• lounge car
• lounge suit
• chaise lounge
• cocktail lounge
• lounge chair

Related words

• long

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ 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)