lawn English · revision 10647
17 Oct 2026, 05:22 by bogdan “en10k b0378: bump … needle”
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+ Lawn, a stretch of mown grass, is an alteration of laund, a glade, from Old French; lawn, a fine linen, is probably named after Laon in France.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: UK /lɔːn/, US /lɑːn/, /lɔːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ {{homograph|1|grass}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1300|origins=fro lande}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is an alteration of laund, launde, a glade or pasture (probably before 1300),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) [[bor|fro|lande|t=heath, moor, clearing]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) of Celtic origin, from Gaulish: compare Breton lann, heath, and Old Irish land, open space (see [[land]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ As laund, a glade, probably before 1300, in Arthour and Merlin;^(Barnhart 1988) as laune, an open space between woods, 1548, the 1540s in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ The sense of level grass kept mown is first recorded in 1733,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-18th century in the NODE and Word Origins.^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021) The older sense, a glade, is now archaic or dialectal.^(Collins 2023)^(Hoad 1986) ''Lawn tennis'' is from 1874 and ''lawn mower'' from 1869.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * before 1300 – launde, a glade.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1548 – laune, an open space.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1733 – mown grass.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1869 – lawn mower.^(Barnhart 1988)
+ * 1874 – lawn tennis.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # An area of short, mown [[grass]], as round a house or in a park.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[glade]].^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[lawn mower]]
+ * [[lawn tennis]]
+
+ {{homograph|2|linen}}
+
+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=eponym|attested=1415}}
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is probably from Laon, a city in northern France long a centre of linen manufacture,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) whose name is Old French Lan, from Latin Laudunum, of Celtic origin.^(Etymonline) For the spelling, compare fawn from French faon.^(Etymonline) Barnhart thinks the early form lawnd may come from confusion with launde, a glade.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ A fine linen like cambric: 1415 in the OED, 1416 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ ''Lawn sleeves'' (1630s) were part of a bishop's dress, and lawn came to stand for the office of bishop (before 1732).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A fine sieve of silk or lawn is from 1853.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * 1415 – fine linen.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1630s – lawn sleeves.^(Etymonline)
+ * before 1732 – a bishop's office.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Noun===
+ # A light, finely woven [[linen]] or [[cotton]] fabric.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[land]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}