lave

Forms

lave f (plural laves)^[1] An earlier form laive “volcanic stone” is recorded in 1587.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian lava (“molten volcanic matter”), recorded in Italian before 1712, a word of Neapolitan and Sicilian origin.^[4][2][3] Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF trace the Italian word to Neapolitan lave.^[5][6] The Italian word, which in the 14th century also meant a flow in a figurative sense, comes from Latin lābēs (“fall, landslide”), from lābor (“to slip, fall”).^[4][2][5][7]

Littré, after Diez, took it instead from Neapolitan lava (“downpour”), from Latin lavō (“to wash”), the flood of rain having been transferred to the flood of molten matter;^[8] Etymonline gives this as the traditional explanation and the Latin word for “fall” as an alternative.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Charles de Brosses uses it in 1739, in his letters from Italy, for molten volcanic matter.^[4][2] The older laive (1587) meant volcanic stone.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names molten volcanic matter, as in coulée de lave and lave en fusion, and also the same matter once cooled and hardened, used as a building stone; this second sense is the older one, under the form laive.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg date the word to 1651, and the GLLF mentions a first example in the middle of the 17th century.^[5][6] Mme de Staël uses it for the rock formed by lava (1807),^[6] and before 1902 Zola uses it for a flow like that of lava.^[6] The adjective lavique is recorded in 1840.^[4][2] English took lava from Italian in 1750.^[9]

Timeline

• 1587 – Laive is recorded for volcanic stone.^[2][3]
• 1651 – Bloch and Wartburg's date for lave.^[5]
• 1739 – Charles de Brosses uses lave for molten volcanic matter.^[4][2]
• 1807 – Mme de Staël uses it for the hardened rock.^[6]
• 1840 – The derivative lavique is recorded.^[4][2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Lava, molten matter poured out by a volcano in eruption: coulée de lave, torrent de lave.^[4][7][10]
2. The rock formed by this matter once cooled, used as a building stone.^[7][2][10]
3. (figurative) A flow like that of lava.^[6][8]

Word family

• lavique

Related words

• Italian lava
• Latin lābēs

Usage notes

A rarer word lave (recorded in 1312, also layve in the 14th century), from Medieval Latin lapida “stone, slab”, is an old or regional name for a flat limestone slab used in roofing, now usually lause; the Grand Robert numbers it lave 2.^[3][7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c d Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert