"L" Word Origins

launch

Old French

From Old French lancier, "to throw a lance," from lance.

launched

Old French

From Old French lanchier, lancier, from Late Latin lanceare, meaning to wield or hurl a lance.

launcher

Origin

From launch plus the agent suffix -er.

launder

Latin

Shortened from Middle English lavender ("washerwoman"), from Old French lavandiere, ultimately from Latin lavo, "to wash."

launderette

Origin

Genericized trademark of Launderette; originally a proprietary name (1940s) of Bendix corporation, from launder + -ette.

laundromat

Origin · 1940

A blend of laundry and automatic, originally a 1940s trademark of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation.

laundry

Latin

From Old French lavanderie, from Latin lavandaria, related to launder.

Laura

Late Latin

From Late Latin Laura, from the feminine form of laurus, "laurel tree."

laureate

Latin

From Latin laureatus, "crowned with laurel," from laurea, the laurel wreath given as an award to poets and victors.

laurel

Latin

From Old French lorier, ultimately from Latin laurus, "laurel."

laurels

Ancient Greek

Plural of laurel, referencing the ancient Greek practice of crowning victors with laurel branches.

Lauren

Latin

A Latin-derived clipping of Laurentius, a doublet of Laurence.

Laurence

Latin

From the Latin name Laurentius, meaning "a person from Laurentum," a town whose name may derive from laurus, "laurel."

Laurent

French

Borrowed from French Laurent.

lauretta

Origin

An Italian pet form of Laura; first introduced into English as the name of one of the narrators in the Decameron.

Lauri

Origin

Borrowed from Dzongkha ལའུ་རི་ (la'u ri).

Laurie

Latin

The given names are clippings of Laurence, Lawrence, Laura, or Lauren + -ie, all ultimately from Latin laurus (“laurel”). The surname is from the diminutive of Lawrence. The city in Missouri was named by its residents in 1961 after L. M. and William (Buster) Laurie, who in 1937 bought a building in the area and operated the Laurie Market, because of the goodwill generated by the family store over the years.

Lauryn

Origin

Spelling variant of Lauren.

Lausanne

French

Borrowed from French Lausanne.

lautitious

Origin

1640s, Latin lautitia ("elegance, magnificence, splendor") nominalized from past participle of lavare (to wash): lautus ("washed, bathed"), see lave.

lava

Latin

From Italian lava, originally a dialect word from the Naples area meaning a stream that overflows onto the street, likely tracing back to Latin labes, "a fall or collapse."

lavabo

Origin

From the Christian ritual, which was traditionally accompanied in Catholicism by a recitation of Psalm 25:6 (Psalm 26:6, in the Hebrew and in most modern translations) which in Latin begins with the word lavābō (“I will wash”). The sense of "room with a toilet" developed under the influence of lavatory and lav.

lavage

French

Borrowed from French lavage, "washing," from laver, "to wash."

lavatory

Late Latin

From Late Latin lavatorium, "place for washing," from Latin lavare, "to wash."

lave

Origin

The verb is derived from Middle English laven (“to bathe, wash; to bail or draw water, drain, exhaust; to dampen, wet; to pour; of water, etc.: to flow, stream”), and then partly: * from Old French laver (“to be washed; to wash”) (modern French laver (“to wash (oneself)”)), from Latin lavāre, the present active infinitive of lavō (“to bathe, wash; to dampen, wet”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”); and * from Old English lafian (“to bathe; to make wet; to ladle out; to pour”), from Proto-West Germanic *labōn (“to refresh, revitalize; to strengthen”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Latin lavō (see above) but this does not explain the change in meaning from “to wash; to wet” to “to refresh; to strengthen”. Perhaps Old English lafian is derived directly from the Latin word, and Proto-West Germanic *labōn and words in languages derived from it such as Dutch and German are coincidentally similar to the Old English word. The noun is derived from the verb.

lavender

Medieval Latin

From Anglo-Norman lavendre, from Medieval Latin lavendula, likely influenced by Latin lavo, "to wash," because of its long use as a scent for washed laundry.

Laverne

Origin

19th-century invention, possibly from the Californian town La Verne, named in the belief that it means "the green" in French. Laverne is a genuine French surname, from Gaulish la verne "the alder (tree place)" but - as in the case of Leroy - there is no apparent reason to turn it into an American given name.

Lavery

Irish

Reduced Anglicized form of Irish Ó Labhradha (“descendant of Labhraidh”), a byname from labhraidh (“spokesman”), from labhair (“to speak”).

Lavinia

Origin

Latin Lavinia, of obscure meaning. Lavinium was a town in ancient Latium.

lavish

Old French

From Old French lavache, "downpour, torrent of rain," reflecting the idea of something poured out abundantly.

lavishly

Origin

From Middle English lavausly, equivalent to lavish + -ly.

lavishness

Origin

From lavish + -ness. Compare Dutch lafenis (“refreshment, lavishness”).

lavvu

Origin

Probably from Northern Sami lávvu, ultimately from Proto-Samic *lāvō.

lavvy

Origin

From lav (“clipped form of lavatory”) + -y (“forming affectionate diminutives”).

law

Old English

From Old English lagu, borrowed from Old Norse lög, literally "things laid down" — related to the verb lay.

lawbreaker

Origin

From Middle English lawbreker, lawe brekare; equivalent to law + breaker.

lawful

Middle English

From Middle English laweful — "law" plus the suffix "-ful."

lawfully

Origin

From "lawful" plus the adverb-forming suffix "-ly."

lawfulness

Origin

From Middle English laufulnes, lahfulnesse, equivalent to lawful + -ness.

lawgiver

Origin

From Middle English lawe ȝivere, lawe-ȝivere, law ȝevar; equivalent to law + giver.

lawless

Middle English

From Middle English laweles — "law" plus the negating suffix "-less."

lawlessness

Origin

From "lawless" plus the noun-forming suffix "-ness."

lawmaker

Origin

From Middle English lawemaker, lawe maker, equivalent to law + maker.

lawmaking

Origin

From law + making.

lawman

Old English

From Old English lahmann, ultimately from Old Norse lǫgmaðr — "law" plus "man."

lawn

Old French

From early Modern English laune, an alteration of laund ("glade"), from Old French lande ("heath, moor").

Lawndale

Origin

From lawn + dale.

lawnmower

Origin

A compound of "lawn" and "mower."