lave

See also: Lave, lavé, lavě, låve, and ľavé

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪv

Etymology 1

From Middle English laven (“to wash; pour out; stream; bail or draw water, drain, exhaust”), from Old English lafian, ġelafian (“to pour; refresh”), from Proto-West Germanic *labōn (“to refresh; revive; strengthen”), of uncertain origin. Influenced by Old French laver and Latin lavō (“to wash, bathe”). Sometimes compared to Ancient Greek λωφάω (lōpháō, “to recover, rest”), also of unknown origin.

Verb

lave (third-person singular simple present laves, present participle laving, simple past and past participle laved)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To pour or throw out, as water; lade out; bail; bail out.
   • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache. From the Sixth Book of the Iliad.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC:

     From that fair flood which Ilion's wall did lave

2. (transitive) To draw, as water; drink in.
   • 2006, Cormac McCarthy, The Road, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 38:

     The boy walked out and squatted and laved up the dark water.

3. (transitive) To give bountifully; lavish.
4. (intransitive) To run down or gutter, as a candle.
5. (intransitive, dialectal) To hang or flap down.
6. (transitive, intransitive, literary or poetic) To wash.
   • 1713, Alexander Pope, “Windsor-Forest. […]”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:

     In her chaste current oft the goddess laves.

   • 1789, William Lisle Bowles, 'Sonnet I' from, Fourteen Sonnets:

     the tranquil tide, / That laves the pebbled shore.

   • 1727, James Thomson, “Summer”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, →OCLC:

     Delicious is your shelter to the soul, / As to the hunted hart the sallying spring, / Or stream full-flowing, that his swelling sides / Laves, as he floats along the herbaged brink

   • 1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:

     […] Lost in the loving floating ocean of thee, / Laved in the flood of thy bliss O death.

7. To lick.
   • 2011 July 15, Miranda Lee, The Boss's Baby, Harlequin, →ISBN:

     […] he drawled, and bent to lave each nipple with his tongue till the satin was wet and clinging.

   • 2011 August 1, Eliza Knight, A Lady's Charade, Eliza Knight, →ISBN, page 122:

     Alexander went from laving at her breasts to nuzzling her belly and then his mouth was on her bare thigh, nibbling at her flesh as his fingers delved inside her sheath. She felt herself stretch and squeeze against his long fingers.

   • 2014 February 21, Scarlet Blackwell, Beached Hearts, Totally Entwined Group (USA+CAD), →ISBN:

     Liam's mouth was so hot and wet on his cock, his tongue so wicked, laving his shaft expertly with smooth, slick strokes, delving into his slit and swiping away the fluid leaking from it. Why was Liam doing this?

   • 2014 May 1, Leslie Kelly, Jo Leigh, Karen Foley, Susanna Carr, Harlequin Blaze May 2014 Bundle: An Anthology, Harlequin, →ISBN:

     He continued to lave her with gentle laps, while his fingers caressed her until she cried out and her whole body convulsed. He felt her muscles contracting around his fingers, but he didn't stop until he'd wrung every last shiver from [her].

   • 2015 June 11, Melissa Foster, Healed by Love (Love in Bloom: The Bradens), World Literary Press:

     He pressed them back down and continued licking, laving at her as her inner muscles contracted around his fingers and she panted out his name. He didn't relent until the last shudder rippled through her beautiful body.

   • 2016 April 15, Elizabeth Lennox, The Prince's Forbidden Lover, Elizabeth Lennox Books LLC, →ISBN:

     […] but it took only a few moments of his tongue laving at her core before she was exploding in a mind-drugging climax that made her throat sore from her cries.

Derived terms

• lave net

Related terms

• lather
• launder
• laundry
• lavender
• lavish
• lavy
• lye

 

Etymology 2

Inherited from Northern Middle English lave (“remainder, rest, that which is left”), from Old English lāf (“lave, remainder, rest”), from Proto-West Germanic *laibu, from Proto-Germanic *laibō (“remainder”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to stick, glue”).

Cognate with Old High German leiba (“lave”), Old Norse leif (“lave”), Old English belīfan (“to remain”). More at belive.

Alternative forms

• lafe, laif, law (Scotland)

Noun

lave (uncountable)

1. (archaic or dialectal) The remainder, rest; that which is left, remnant; others.
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, chapter XII, in The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume I, The Burton Club, page 114:

     Then they set upon us and slew some of my slaves and put the lave to flight[.]

   • 1896 (posthumously), Robert Louis Stevenson, Songs of Travel and other verses.

     Give to me the life I love, / Let the lave go by me...

2. (dialectal) A crowd
   • 1807, Ancient historic ballads - Page 72:

     Of prelates proud, a populous lave, And abbots boldly there were known.

Synonyms

• (that which is left): remnant, residue; See also Thesaurus:remainder

Anagrams

• Leva, Vale, Veal, Vela, avel, eval, leva, vale, veal, vela

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaːvə/, [ˈlɛːʋə], [ˈlɛːʊ]
• Rhymes: -aːvə

Etymology 1

From Old Norse laga, derived from lag (“layer”). Cognate with Norwegian lage, Swedish laga.

Verb

lave (imperative lav, infinitive at lave, present tense laver, past tense lavede, perfect tense har lavet)

1. to make, create, construct, produce

   Denne fabrik laver madrasser.

   This factory makes mattresses.

2. to cook, prepare

   at lave mad

   to cook (lit. "to make food")

   Jeg laver kødboller til aftensmad.

   I'm making meatballs for dinner.

3. to do

   Hvad skal vi lave i dag?

   What shall we do today?

4. to repair, mend, fix

   Skal jeg lave din jakke?

   Shall I fix your jacket?

Conjugation

Inflection of lave

	present	past
simple	laver	lavede
perfect	har lavet	havde lavet
passive	laves	lavedes
participle	lavende	lavet
imperative	lav	—
infinitive	lave	—
auxiliary verb	have	—
gerund	laven	—

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

lave

1. definite of lav
2. plural of lav

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

lave c

1. (obsolete) dative singular indefinite of lag

Usage notes

Only used in the fixed expression af lave (“out of order”).

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lav/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

lave f (plural laves)

1. (usually uncountable) lava

Derived terms

• fontaine de lave

Verb

lave

1. inflection of laver:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “lave”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• leva

Galician

Verb

lave

1. inflection of lavar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French laver (“wash”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lave/

Verb

lave

1. to wash

Italian

Noun

lave f

1. plural of lava

Anagrams

• leva, vale, vela

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

lave

1. (Northern) Alternative form of love (“remainder”)

Etymology 2

Verb

lave

1. Alternative form of laven

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

lave

1. definite singular of lav
2. plural of lav

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈla.vi/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈla.vi/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈla.ve/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈla.vɨ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈla.vɨ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈla.bɨ/ [ˈla.βɨ]

• Hyphenation: la‧ve
• Rhymes: -avi, -avɨ

Verb

lave

1. inflection of lavar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlave]

Noun

lave f

1. inflection of lavă:
   1. indefinite plural
   2. indefinite genitive/dative singular

Scots

Etymology

Middle Scots lave, laif, lafe (“remainder, rest, that which is left”), from Old English lāf (“lave, remainder, rest”). Akin to Old High German leiba (“lave”), Old Norse leif (“lave”), Old English belīfan (“to remain”). More at leave.

Noun

lave

1. (archaic) rest, remainder.

   Ye are bit a wumman lik the lave, an ye maun thole the brunt o whit life mey bring. — Janet's Love and Service

   • 1789, Robert Burns, Whistle O'er The Lave O't:

     Now we're married - speir nae mair, / But whistle o'er the lave o't!

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Spanish

Verb

lave

1. inflection of lavar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative

Swedish

lave (tower)

sauna with two benches (lave)

Alternative forms

• lafve (old spelling)

Etymology

From Old Swedish lavi, possibly from the root of loge (“kind of barn”), from which is the Norwegian Nynorsk låve derived from.

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.

May be of two different origins, as it is two different meanings of the word.

Noun

lave c

1. a towerlike building atop a mine shaft, common in Scandinavia during 19th century

   Synonym: gruvlave

2. a wooden bench in a sauna

   Synonyms: bastulave, lav

Declension

Declension of lave
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	lave	laven	lavar	lavarna
Genitive	laves	lavens	lavars	lavarnas

References

• lave in Svensk ordbok.

Anagrams

• elva, leva, vale, vela