lass
English
Etymology
From Middle English lasse, from Old Norse laskura (“an unmarried woman, maiden”). Cognate with Scots lassie.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /læs/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -æs
Noun
lass (plural lasses)
- (archaic in some dialects, informal) A young woman or girl.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:girl
- Coordinate term: lad
- Come and dance, ye lads and lasses!
- (Tyneside, Mackem) A sweetheart.
Usage notes
Still prevalent in Scottish English, Irish English, North East England, and Yorkshire. Sometimes used poetically in other dialects of English.
Derived terms
- buffer lass
- hallelujah lass
- lasslorn
Related terms
- lad
- lassie
Translations
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References
- A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, →ISBN
- lass in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “lass”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin,
- Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, →ISBN
- A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896,
Anagrams
- SALS, SALs, SASL, sALS, sals
German
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /las/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -as
Verb
lass
- singular imperative of lassen
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of lassen
Further reading
- “lass” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- “lass” in Duden online
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From Middle High German lōs, from Old High German *los, variant of lōs (“loose; free; lacking; sly, deceitful”). Compare for the short vowel Ripuarian Central Franconian loss, Dutch los. The uninflected stem of this adjective develops regularly into Luxembourgish lass, while the inflected stem yields the doublet lues (“slow, quiet”). See the English cognate loose for more.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lɑs/
- Rhymes: -ɑs
Adjective
lass (masculine lassen, neuter lasst, comparative méi lass, superlative am lassten)
- loose, unattached
Declension
number and gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | all genders | ||
predicative | hien ass lass | si ass lass | et ass lass | si si(nn) lass | |
nominative / accusative | attributive and/or after determiner | lassen | lass | lasst | lass |
independent without determiner | lasses | lasser | |||
dative | after any declined word | lassen | lasser | lassen | lassen |
as first declined word | lassem | lassem |
Derived terms
- lassgoen
- lassloossen
Swedish
Etymology
Inherited from Old Swedish las. Originally the past participle of a verb derived from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną (“to load”). Doublet of lada and last.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /lasː/
Noun
lass n
- load
Declension
Declension of lass | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | |||
Indefinite | Definite | Indefinite | Definite | |
Nominative | lass | lasset | lass | lassen |
Genitive | lass | lassets | lass | lassens |
Derived terms
- dra det tyngsta lasset
- liten tuva stjälper ofta stort lass
Related terms
- lassa
References
- lass in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
- lass in Svensk ordbok (SO)
- lass in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
- lass in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
Yola
Etymology 1
From Middle English los, from Old English los.
Alternative forms
- loss
Noun
lass
- loss
Noun
lass
- Alternative form of lhose
- 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 2:
- Th' valler w'speen here, th' lass ee chourch-hey.
- The more we spend here, the less in the churchyard.
-
References
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 52 & 84