loud
See also: Loud
English
Alternative forms
- lowd (obsolete)
Pronunciation
- enPR: loud, IPA(key): /laʊd/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -aʊd
Etymology 1
From Middle English loude, loud, lud, from Old English hlūd (“loud, noisy, sounding, sonorous”), from Proto-West Germanic *hlūd, from Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz, *hlūþaz (“heard”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlewtos (“heard, famous”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”). More at listen.
Cognates
Akin to Scots loud, lowd (“loud”), Swedish ljud, West Frisian lûd (“loud”), Dutch luid (“loud”), Low German lud (“loud”), German laut (“loud”), Irish clú (“repute”), Welsh clywed (“heard”), clod (“praise”), Latin laudare (“praise”), Tocharian A/B klots/klautso 'ear', klyostär 'heard', Ancient Greek κλυτός (klutós, “famous”), Albanian quaj (“to name, call”), shquar (“famous, notorious”), Old Armenian լու (lu, “the act of hearing”), Old Church Slavonic слава (slava, “glory”), слово (slovo, “word”), Sanskrit श्रव (śráva, “glory”).
Adjective
loud (comparative louder, superlative loudest)
- (of a sound) Of great intensity.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
- Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.
- Turn that music down; it's too loud.
- What was that? It sounded like a really loud sneeze.
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- (of a person, thing, event, etc.) Noisy.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Proverbs vii:11:
- She is loud and stubborn.
- a loud party that went on all night
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- (of a person, event, etc.) Not subtle or reserved, brash.
- (of clothing, decorations, etc.) Having unpleasantly and tastelessly contrasting colours or patterns; gaudy.
- a loud style of dress; loud colors
- 2006, Janis Mink, Joan Miró, →ISBN, page 22:
- In comparison with the loud Portrait of E.C. Ricart (ill. p. 13) two years earlier, Miró has captured a soft, hushed atmosphere here.
- (of marijuana, slang) High-quality; premium; (by extension) having a strong or pungent odour indicating good quality.
Synonyms
- (of clothing, etc): garish, gaudy
Antonyms
- (sound): quiet, soft
- (person): quiet
Derived terms
Terms derived from loud (adjective)
- aloud
- loudhailer
- loudly
- loudmouth
- loudness
- loudsome
- loudspeaker
Translations
of a sound
|
noisy
|
of a colour, clothing, etc.
|
Noun
loud (countable and uncountable, plural louds)
- (colloquial) A loud sound or part of a sound.
- 2012, Sam McGuire, Paul Lee, The Video Editor's Guide to Soundtrack Pro (page 103)
- The expander doesn't really make the louds louder and the softs softer in one step […]
- 2012, Sam McGuire, Paul Lee, The Video Editor's Guide to Soundtrack Pro (page 103)
- (slang, uncountable) High-quality marijuana.
See also
- dank
Etymology 2
From Middle English loude, from Old English hlūde (“loudly”), from Proto-Germanic *hlūda, *hlūdô (“loudly”), related to Etymology 1.
Adverb
loud (comparative louder, superlative loudest)
- Loudly.
- c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene iv]:
- Who knocks so loud at door?
- 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 14, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], OCLC 928184292, book 7, pages 71-72:
- Unluckily that worthy Officer having, in a literal Sense, taken his Fill of Liquor, had been some Time retired to his Bolster, where he was snoaring so loud, that it was not easy to convey a Noise in at his Ears capable of drowning that which issued from his Nostrils.
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Anagrams
- Ludo, ludo, ludo-, ould
Middle English
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old English hlūd, from Proto-West Germanic *hlūd, from Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlutós.
Alternative forms
- loude, lowd, lowde, lud
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /luːd/
Adjective
loud (plural and weak singular loude, comparative loudere)
- Loud, noisy; producing much sound.
- (rare) Audible; detectable by hearing.
- (rare) Obvious; easily detectable or discernible.
Related terms
- loude
Descendants
- English: loud
- Scots: loud, lood
References
- “lǒud, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-10-01.
Adverb
loud
- Alternative form of loude (“loudly”)