lava English · revision 39904

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=1750}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈlɑːvə/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈlɑvə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|it|lava]], at first a word of the Neapolitan dialect (Calabrian, according to Barnhart and Etymonline), where it meant a stream or torrent, especially one caused by a sudden downpour, and was then applied to the streams of molten rock from Vesuvius.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002)^(Weekley 1921) Florio's dictionary of 1611 glosses it "a streame or gutter suddainly caused by raine".^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921) Its source is disputed.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The traditional explanation, given by the OED, the Shorter Oxford, Skeat, Weekley, Hoad and Collins, derives it from [[it|lavare|t=to wash]], from [[la|lavō|t=to wash]];^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002)^(Skeat 1911)^(Weekley 1921)^(Hoad 1986)^(Collins 2023) Italian etymologists, followed by Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com and Klein, derive it instead from [[la|lābēs|t=a fall, a sliding down]], related to [[m|la|lābor|t=to slip, fall]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(Klein 1966) and Klein states that it has nothing to do with the verb for washing.^(Klein 1966) The American Heritage Dictionary gives the second explanation with a "perhaps".^(AHD 2024) From literary Italian the word spread to most European languages, including [[es|lava]], [[de|Lava]] and [[fr|lave]].^(OED 2026)^(Weekley 1921)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A stream of molten rock pouring from a volcano: 1750 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) 1753 in the OED, in the ''Philosophical Transactions'' of the Royal Society.^(OED 2026) Merriam-Webster dates the first use to 1759.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The first English sense, "a lava stream", was soon given up (the OED's last example is from 1769) for the matter itself: the fluid rock flowing from a volcano (1760) and the rock it forms when it cools (1753).^(OED 2026) From 1773 a ''lava'' could also be a particular kind of this rock, or a bed of it.^(OED 2026) Twentieth-century compounds include ''lava lamp'', recorded from 1965.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1611 – Florio glosses Italian ''lava'' as a stream caused by rain.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1750 – lava, molten rock from a volcano.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1753 – a stream of molten rock; the rock formed when it cools.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1760 – the fluid matter flowing from a volcano.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1773 – a kind or bed of lava.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1965 – ''lava lamp''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[molten|alt=Molten]] rock that flows out of a [[volcano]] or a [[fissure]] in the earth's surface: ''Lava poured down the side of the mountain.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # The [[rock]] formed when this cools and hardens.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lave]]

+ * [[lavatory]]

+ * [[lapse]]

+ * [[magma]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}