lake English · revision 3014

+ English has two words spelled ''lake'': a body of water, from Latin lacus, and a red pigment, from the same source as [[lac]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /leɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|body of water}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1121|origins=la lacus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|lac]], later lake,^(Barnhart 1988) partly [[inh|ang|lacu|t=stream, pool, pond]] and partly [[bor|fro|lac]],^(Barnhart 1988) and directly from [[la|lacus|t=pond, pool, lake; basin, tank]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) related to [[m|la|lacūna|t=hole, pit]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) It is from [[ine-pro|*laku-|t=body of water, lake, sea]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) the source also of Greek lákkos “pit, pond”, Old Church Slavonic loky “pool” and Old Irish loch “lake”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) A Germanic branch gave Old Norse lǫgr “sea, water” and Old English lagu.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In Middle English the native word could also mean “stream, ditch, marsh, grave, pit of hell”, and this may have influenced or merged with the borrowed one.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Before 1121 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the early 12th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) and about 1205 in the OED, of a large body of water surrounded by land.^(OED 1989) Old English lacu is found in 944, in a charter of King Edmund I.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A lake was once also a pond or pool, a sense the OED marks obsolete.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) After the Vulgate's lacus it meant a pit, a den of lions, or a grave, from about 1320.^(OED 1989)^(Hoad 1986) ''The Great Lake'', a phrase borrowed from North American Indians, was the Atlantic Ocean.^(OED 1989) Latin lacuna, a small lacus, became Spanish and Italian laguna and English [[lagoon]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 944 – Old English lacu in a charter.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1121 – lac.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1205 – a large body of water.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1320 – a pit, a grave.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large inland body of fresh or salt [[water]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An ornamental [[pond]], as in a park.^(AHD)

+ # A large pool of a liquid: ''a lake of oil''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lakeside]]

+ * [[lakefront]]

+ * [[lakeshore]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|pigment}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1598|origins=fa lak}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|laque]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|pro|laca]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[ar|لك|tr=lakk]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[fa|لاک|tr=lāk]],^(MWU 2024) the source of [[lac]];^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) the pigment was first obtained from lac.^(Etymonline) Hoad calls it an unexplained variant of ''lac''.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A deep red colouring matter: 1598 in Merriam-Webster,^(MWU 2024) 1616 in Barnhart^(Barnhart 1988) and the 1610s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It came to mean any pigment made of a dye fixed on a metallic base, used in dyes, inks and paints.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1598 – a red pigment.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1616 – first in Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[pigment]] made of an organic dye on a mineral base, used in dyes, inks and paints.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A deep red colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lacustrine]]

+ * [[loch]]

+ * [[lough]]

+ * [[lagoon]]

+ * [[lacuna]]

+ * [[lac]]

+ * [[lacquer]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In northern English dialect ''lake'' or ''laik'' means “to play”, from Old Norse leika.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}