lass
pronunciation
How to pronounce lass in British English:
UK [læs]
How to pronounce lass in American English:
US [læs]
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- Noun:
- a girl or young woman who is unmarried
Word Origin
- lass
- lass: [13] Like its male counterpart lad, lass has an obscure past. The form lasce, recorded in the 13th and 14th centuries, suggests the possibility that it may originally have come from a Scandinavian adjective related to Old Swedish løsk ‘unmarried’.
- lass (n.)
- "young woman," c. 1300, probably from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Swedish løsk kona "unmarried woman," but also perhaps related to Old Norse löskr "idle, weak," West Frisian lask "light, thin." Liberman suggests Old Danish las "rag." "Slang words for 'rag' sometimes acquire the jocular meaning 'child' and especially 'girl.'" "Used now only of mean girls" [Johnson, who also has lasslorn "forsaken by his mistress"]. Scottish diminutive lassie first recorded 1725.
Example
- 1. In a distant place there lives a bonnie lass .
- 2. The unhappy tale of a virginal laundry lass .
- 3. And I expect the lass agrees .
- 4. She 's a strapping lass .
- 5. The dainty lass is his sister .