lad English · revision 14998

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /læd/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|ladde]], of obscure or unknown origin,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) possibly from a Scandinavian source, compare [[no|-ladd]] in compounds such as askeladd, the youngest son of folk tales, and tusseladd, a weakling.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Liberman takes it from [[no|ladd|t=hose, woollen stocking]], since words for socks and shoes were used as nicknames for fools; the sense would have passed from “foolish youth” to “youngster of low status” and then to “young fellow”.^(Liberman 2008)^(Etymonline) The Old English name Ladda is two centuries older, but Liberman finds no evidence that the two are related.^(Liberman 2008)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A foot soldier, a serving man, a man of low position: probably before 1300 in Kyng Alisaunder, and about 1300 in Havelok the Dane.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) It is a surname from the late 12th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A boy or youth is from before 1338 in Barnhart, about 1440 in the OED, the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A spirited young man, ''a bit of a lad'', is from the mid-16th century,^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) and a stable groom from 1848.^(OED 1989) In Scots a lad is a sweetheart (1725).^(OED 1989) ''The lads'', a group of men who share an activity, is from 1888.^(OED 1989) Laddie is from the 16th century,^(Hoad 1986) and the ladette, a young woman who behaves like a lad, from about 1995.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * late 12th century – Ladde (surname).^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – a serving man.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1338 – a boy or youth.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-16th century – a spirited young man.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1848 – a stable lad.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1995 – ladette.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A boy or young man.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A man of any age; a fellow.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A lively, dashing young man: ''a bit of a lad''.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(British)'' A young man who behaves in a rowdy, macho way.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(British)'' A person who looks after horses; a stable lad.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[laddish]]

+ * [[ladhood]]

+ * [[laddie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lass]]

+ * [[lassie]]

+ * [[knave]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the Lake District a lad was a pile of stones on top of a mountain.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}