lame
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
From Middle English lame, from Old English lama (“lame”), from Proto-West Germanic *lam, from Proto-Germanic *lamaz (“lame”), from Proto-Indo-European *lem- (“to crush; fragile”).[1]
Adjective edit
lame (comparative lamer, superlative lamest)
- Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs.
- 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXIII, page 39:
- Alone, alone, to where he sits,
The Shadow cloak’d from head to foot
Who keeps the keys of all the creeds,
I wander, often falling lame,
And looking back to whence I came,
Or on to where the pathway leads; […]
- Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect or temporary obstruction of a function.
- a lame leg, arm or muscle
- (by extension) Hobbling; limping; inefficient; imperfect.
- a. 1678 (date written), Isaac Barrow, “(please specify the chapter name or sermon number). Of Industry in General”, in The Works of Dr. Isaac Barrow. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to VII), London: A[braham] J[ohn] Valpy, […], published 1830–1831, →OCLC:
- a lame endeavour
- c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- O, most lame and impotent conclusion! […]
- 1801, Isaac Watts, The improvement of the mind, or A supplement to the art of logic:
- It is the remark of an ingenious writer, should a barbarous Indian, who had never seen a palace or a ship, view their separate and disjointed parts, and observe the pillars, doors, windows, cornices and turrets of the one, or the prow and stern, the ribs and masts, the ropes and shrouds, the sails and tackle of the other, he would be able to form but a very lame and dark idea of either of those excellent and useful inventions.
- 1856, J. W. Redhouse, An English and Turkish Dictionary[1], page xx:
- The ی consonant is our English y […] It is really a sad mistake for us, who possess this useful consonant, to adopt the lame expedient to which other languages are forced to have recourse, namely, the use of the vowel i, with or without the diaresis over it.
- (colloquial) Unconvincing or unbelievable.
- He had a really lame excuse for missing the birthday party.
- (colloquial) Synonym of uncool, uninteresting, or unfunny.
- He kept telling these extremely lame jokes all night.
Usage notes edit
- Referring to a person without a disability as “lame” is offensive to many as it suggests a derogatory characterization of the physical condition from which the term was derived. Disability rights activists consider figurative uses of “lame” in general to be offensive, arguing that such use adds to the social stigma surrounding physical disabilities. [2]
Synonyms edit
- (unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs): crippled
- (moving with difficulty):
- (by extension, hobbling): hobbling, limping, inefficient, imperfect
- (slang, unconvincing): weak, unbelievable
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs"):
- (antonym(s) of "moving with difficulty"):
- (antonym(s) of "by extension"): efficient, perfect
- (antonym(s) of "slang"): convincing, believable
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs
|
moving with difficulty
|
by extension, hobbling
slang: unconvincing
|
slang: failing to be cool, funny, interesting or relevant
|
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
|
Verb edit
lame (third-person singular simple present lames, present participle laming, simple past and past participle lamed)
- (transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to become lame.
- [1877], Anna Sewell, “A Job Horse and his Drivers”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, pages 134–135:
- And if you don't want to lame your horse, you must look sharp and get them [stones stuck in hooves] out quickly.
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 6, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
- Now her soul felt lamed in itself. It was her hope that was struck.
Translations edit
to cause a person or animal to become lame
|
Noun edit
lame (plural lames)
- (prison slang) A stupid or undesirable person.
- 2011, Lil' Kim (lyrics and music), “Black Friday”:
- You lames tryna clone my style and run wit it.
Etymology 2 edit
From Middle French lame, from Latin lamina.
Noun edit
lame (plural lames)
- A lamina; a thin layer or plate of material, as in certain kinds of armor.
- 2013, Paul F Walker, History of Armour 1100-1700, Crowood, →ISBN:
- This rim involved a raised rolled edge on the rerebrace that was inserted into a raised lip on the lower lame of the pauldron. This lip allows the arm to rotate without the need for leather straps and can be clearly seen carved on to the effigy […]
- 2015, Anne Curry, Malcolm Mercer, The Battle of Agincourt, Yale University Press, →ISBN, page 120:
- These pauldrons are generally asymmetrical with the left pauldron wider than the right, which is cut away for the passage of the lance. It would be attached to the shoulder by points through a restored leather tab on the top lame at the apex […]
- (in the plural) A set of joined overlapping metal plates.
- Kitchen tool for scoring bread dough before baking.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
References edit
- ^ Pokorny 2365.
Anagrams edit
Esperanto edit
Adverb edit
lame
Estonian edit
Etymology edit
Adjective edit
lame (genitive lameda, partitive lamedat, comparative lamedam, superlative kõige lamedam)
Declension edit
| Declension of lame (ÕS type 2/õpik, no gradation) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | lame | lamedad | |
| accusative | nom. | ||
| gen. | lameda | ||
| genitive | lamedate | ||
| partitive | lamedat | lamedaid | |
| illative | lamedasse | lamedatesse lamedaisse | |
| inessive | lamedas | lamedates lamedais | |
| elative | lamedast | lamedatest lamedaist | |
| allative | lamedale | lamedatele lamedaile | |
| adessive | lamedal | lamedatel lamedail | |
| ablative | lamedalt | lamedatelt lamedailt | |
| translative | lamedaks | lamedateks lamedaiks | |
| terminative | lamedani | lamedateni | |
| essive | lamedana | lamedatena | |
| abessive | lamedata | lamedateta | |
| comitative | lamedaga | lamedatega | |
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Latin lāmina, through the accusative lāminam. Doublet of lamine, a borrowing.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
lame f (plural lames)
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- → Catalan: llama
- → Italian: lama
- → Persian: لام (lâm, “microscope slide”)
Further reading edit
- “lame”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams edit
Friulian edit
Etymology edit
Ultimately from Latin lamina. Compare Romansch loma, lama, French lame, Italian and Venetian lama.
Noun edit
lame f (plural lamis)
German edit
Etymology edit
From the English adjective lame.
Adjective edit
lame (strong nominative masculine singular lamer, not comparable)
- (slang) boring; unimpressive
- (slang) unskilled; useless
- Ich wollte nicht sagen, dass das, was die machen, total lame ist.
- I didn’t want to say that what they are doing is totally lame.
Declension edit
Positive forms of lame (uncomparable)
| number & gender | singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
| predicative | er ist lame | sie ist lame | es ist lame | sie sind lame | |
| strong declension (without article) |
nominative | lamer | lame | lames | lame |
| genitive | lamen | lamer | lamen | lamer | |
| dative | lamem | lamer | lamem | lamen | |
| accusative | lamen | lame | lames | lame | |
| weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der lame | die lame | das lame | die lamen |
| genitive | des lamen | der lamen | des lamen | der lamen | |
| dative | dem lamen | der lamen | dem lamen | den lamen | |
| accusative | den lamen | die lame | das lame | die lamen | |
| mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein lamer | eine lame | ein lames | (keine) lamen |
| genitive | eines lamen | einer lamen | eines lamen | (keiner) lamen | |
| dative | einem lamen | einer lamen | einem lamen | (keinen) lamen | |
| accusative | einen lamen | eine lame | ein lames | (keine) lamen | |
Italian edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
lame f
Anagrams edit
Mauritian Creole edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
lame
Middle English edit
Verb edit
lame
- To shine.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)
Norwegian Nynorsk edit
Etymology 1 edit
Adjective edit
lame
Etymology 2 edit
Noun edit
lame m (definite singular lameen, indefinite plural lamear, definite plural lameane)
- alternative spelling of lamé
Old French edit
Noun edit
lame oblique singular, f (oblique plural lames, nominative singular lame, nominative plural lames)
- blade (of a weapon)
Romanian edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
lame f
- inflection of lamă:
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
lame
- inflection of lamer:
Swedish edit
Adjective edit
lame