lav

Symbol

lav

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Latvian.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Latvian terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /læv/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æv

Noun

lav (plural lavs)

1. (UK, Ireland, slang) Clipping of lavatory.

   Please, miss, I need to go to the lav.

   • Quoted in 2006, Matt Houlbrook, Queer London (page 151)

     If you had too much slap on when you went out . . . your mates say too much slap on your ecaf. Yeah. Oh really girl? Yes . . . Go in the lavs here and have a look.

2. (film, informal) Clipping of lavalier microphone.

   When you’re recording interviews, it’s best to use a lav.

Anagrams

• AVL, Val, Vla., val

Etymology

Borrowed from Bislama lav (“to laugh”).

Verb

lav

1. to laugh

References

• Greenhill, S.J., Blust. R, & Gray, R.D. (2008). The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics. Evolutionary Bioinformatics, 4:271-283.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlaf]

Noun

lav f

1. genitive plural of lava

Etymology 1

From Old Danish lagh, from Old Norse lágr, from Proto-Germanic *lēgaz, cognate with Norwegian låg, Swedish låg. English low is borrowed from Old Norse.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse lag (“layer”), from Proto-Germanic *lagą. Doublet of lag, [Term?], and layer (the Old Norse plural lǫg lives on in Danish lov and English law).

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Norwegian lav, derived from the verb Old Norse lafa (“to dangle”).

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Etymology 1

From Danish lav.

Etymology 2

From Danish lav, itself a borrowing from Norwegian lav. Related to the verb lave.

References

• “lav” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From the verb lava (“to dangle”), from Old Norse lafa. Cognate with Norn lav, Icelandic laf and Swedish lav.

Noun

lav n (definite singular lavet, indefinite plural lav, definite plural lava)

1. lichen
2. something that hangs down
   1. a cobweb that dangles from the roof
   2. rain and dew drops in a tree
   3. ash from leaves or needles that hangs on burnt twigs

References

• “lav” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *lьvъ, from a Germanic language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lâʋ/

Noun

lȁv m (Cyrillic spelling ла̏в)

1. lion (mammal)
2. (astronomy, astrology) Leo
3. (soccer, chiefly in plural) Olympique Lyonnais player

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑːv/
• Rhymes: -ɑːv

Etymology 1

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk lav

Noun

lav c

1. lichen

Derived terms

• lavskrika
• varglav

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish lavi, possibly from the root of loge (“kind of barn”).

The other version derives it to Slavic origins, through Finnish. Ultimately from Proto-Balto-Slavic *lā́ˀwāˀ. Cognate with modern Russian лавка (lavka) and modern Finnish lava.

Noun

lav c

1. bench in sauna

References

• lav in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• lav in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• lav in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• alv, val

Etymology

From English love.

Noun

lav

1. love

Etymology

Borrowed from French lave

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʲav/, /ɫav/

Noun

lav (definite accusative lavı, plural lavlar)

1. lava

Noun

lav (nominative plural lavs)

1. wash, washing (the action or activity)