lake
Plurallakes
Plurallakes
- 1A large area of water with land all around it.
Like a giant bowl of water sitting in the middle of the land.
We swam in the lake all afternoon.
The lake froze solid during the cold winter.
UsageSay Lake Superior, with no the. Boats are on the lake.
Similarloch
- 2
- 3A coloring made by fixing a dye onto a solid base so it will not dissolve, used in paints and foods.
Like dye held onto a powder so it can be brushed on like paint.
The artist used crimson lake to paint the red roses.
Many candies get their bright colors from food lakes.
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Less common meanings
- 4A pit or a ditch dug in the ground.
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- 5A gift, offering, or sacrifice given to someone or something.
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- 6To give an offering or gift, often in worship.
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- 7A kind of fine, smooth white linen cloth.
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- 8Of blood, to break open the red cells so their red coloring leaks into the liquid around them.
- 9To color something the deep red of lake pigment.
- 10A small stream, or a channel or drain that carries water.
- 11Play, sport, and merry fun shared with others.
- 12To leap, jump, play, or work hard at something.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
It comes from an old English word 'lacu' meaning a stream or pool of water, mixed with a word from Old French 'lac' or Latin 'lacus' meaning lake.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
- Lake derives partly from Old English lacu. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English lacu meant a stream or pool. en.wiktionary.org
- The inherited English word combined with material from Old French lac or Latin lacus. iecor.clld.org
- Old French lac meant lake. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin lacus meant lake. en.wiktionary.org
It comes from Old English 'lac', meaning play, sport, or offering, from an older Germanic word for game or dance.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- This sense of lake derives from Old English lāc. en.wiktionary.org
- Old English lāc meant play, sport, or offering. en.wiktionary.org
- Its Germanic ancestor meant game or dance. en.wiktionary.org
It comes from an old Germanic word meaning linen, cloth, or sheet.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
- The linen sense of lake derives from Proto-Germanic *lakaną, meaning linen, cloth, or sheet. en.wiktionary.org
It comes from French 'laque' (lacquer), which came through Persian and Hindi from Sanskrit 'lākṣā'.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
- Lake in its pigment sense comes from French 'laque', meaning lacquer. en.wiktionary.org
- The word ultimately comes from Sanskrit 'lākṣā' through Hindi and Persian. en.wiktionary.org