See also: lamé, lamè, and lamę

EnglishEdit

 
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PronunciationEdit

  • (UK, US) IPA(key): /leɪm/
  • (file)
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪm
  • Hyphenation: lame

Etymology 1Edit

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]

AdjectiveEdit

lame (comparative lamer, superlative lamest)

  1. Unable to walk properly because of a problem with one's feet or legs.
  2. Moving with pain or difficulty on account of injury, defect or temporary obstruction of a function.
    a lame leg, arm or muscle
  3. (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. [], volume (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.
  4. (slang) Unconvincing or unbelievable.
    He had a really lame excuse for missing the birthday party.
  5. (slang) Failing to be cool, funny, interesting or relevant.
    He kept telling these extremely lame jokes all night.
Usage notesEdit

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.

SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

VerbEdit

lame (third-person singular simple present lames, present participle laming, simple past and past participle lamed)

  1. (transitive) To cause (a person or animal) to become lame.
TranslationsEdit

NounEdit

lame (plural lames)

  1. (prison slang) A stupid or undesirable person.
    • 2011, Lil' Kim, Black Friday (song)
      You lames tryna clone my style and run wit it.

Etymology 2Edit

From Middle French lame, from Latin lamina.

NounEdit

lame (plural lames)

  1. 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 []
  2. (in the plural) A set of joined overlapping metal plates.
  3. Kitchen tool for scoring bread dough before baking.
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Pokorny 2365.

AnagramsEdit

EsperantoEdit

AdverbEdit

lame

  1. lamely

EstonianEdit

EtymologyEdit

From lamama +‎ -e.

AdjectiveEdit

lame (genitive lameda, partitive lamedat, comparative lamedam, superlative kõige lamedam)

  1. flat

DeclensionEdit

FrenchEdit

EtymologyEdit

Inherited from Latin lāmina, through the accusative lāminam. Doublet of lamine, a borrowing.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

lame f (plural lames)

  1. lamina
  2. blade
  3. wave

Related termsEdit

DescendantsEdit

  • Catalan: llama
  • Italian: lama
  • Persian: لام(lâm, microscope slide)

Further readingEdit

AnagramsEdit

FriulianEdit

EtymologyEdit

Ultimately from Latin lamina. Compare Romansch loma, lama, French lame, Italian and Venetian lama.

NounEdit

lame f (plural lamis)

  1. blade

GermanEdit

EtymologyEdit

From the English adjective lame.

AdjectiveEdit

lame (strong nominative masculine singular lamer, not comparable)

  1. (slang) boring; unimpressive
  2. (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.

DeclensionEdit

ItalianEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈla.me/
  • Rhymes: -ame
  • Hyphenation: là‧me

NounEdit

lame f

  1. plural of lama

AnagramsEdit

Mauritian CreoleEdit

EtymologyEdit

From French main.

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

lame

  1. hand

Middle EnglishEdit

VerbEdit

lame

  1. To shine.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Piers Plowman to this entry?)

Norwegian NynorskEdit

Etymology 1Edit

AdjectiveEdit

lame

  1. (non-standard since 2012) definite singular of lam
  2. (non-standard since 2012) plural of lam

Etymology 2Edit

NounEdit

lame m (definite singular lameen, indefinite plural lamear, definite plural lameane)

  1. alternative spelling of lamé

Old FrenchEdit

NounEdit

lame f (oblique plural lames, nominative singular lame, nominative plural lames)

  1. blade (of a weapon)

RomanianEdit

PronunciationEdit

NounEdit

lame f

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

SpanishEdit

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈlame/ [ˈla.me]
  • Rhymes: -ame
  • Syllabification: la‧me

VerbEdit

lame

  1. inflection of lamer:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

SwedishEdit

AdjectiveEdit

lame

  1. absolute definite natural masculine singular of lam.