laboratory English · revision 6094

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1605|origins=la labor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ləˈbɒr.ə.tər.i/, /ləˈbɒr.ə.tri/, US /ˈlæb.rə.tɔːr.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|labōrātōrium|t=a place for labour or work]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[la|labōrātus]], the past participle of [[m|la|labōrāre|t=to work]] (see [[labor]]),^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) and the suffix [[m|la|-ōrium]] (see [[-ory]]).^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A building or room set apart for scientific experiments and investigation: 1605 in the OED and Barnhart;^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) about 1600 in Etymonline, and MWU dates its first known use to 1592.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 17th century a laboratory was most often a chemist's or alchemist's workroom,^(OED 1989) and figurative use, a place where something is worked out, is by the 1660s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In the military, a department of an arsenal for making and testing ammunition is from 1716,^(OED 1989) and in metallurgy the space between the fire and flue bridges of a reverberatory furnace from 1839.^(OED 1989) The clipped form [[lab]] is from the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986) The UK pronunciation stresses the second syllable and the US the first.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1592 – first known use, according to MWU.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1605 – a building for scientific work.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – figurative use.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1716 – an arsenal's ammunition department.^(OED 1989)

+ * 19th century – lab.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A room or building equipped for scientific [[experiment|alt=experiments]], research or teaching.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place where drugs or chemicals are made.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A place for practice, observation or testing.^(AHD)

+ # A class period spent working in a laboratory.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[laboratorial]]

+ * [[laboratorially]]

+ * [[laboratorian]]

+ * [[interlaboratory]]

+ * [[language laboratory]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lab]]

+ * [[labor]]

+ * [[laborious]]

+ * [[elaborate]]

+ * [[collaborate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}