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definitions

lake

1
[leyk]
See more synonyms for lake on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a body of fresh or salt water of considerable size, surrounded by land.
  2. any similar body or pool of other liquid, as oil.
Idioms
  1. (go) jump in the lake, (used as an exclamation of dismissal or impatience.)

Origin of lake

1
before 1000; Middle English lak(e), lac(e), apparently a conflation of Old French lac, its source, Latin lacus (compare Greek lákkos, Old Irish loch, Old English, Old Saxon lagu sea, water) and Old English lacu stream, water course (compare leccan to moisten, modern dial. lake stream, channel; see leach1)

lake

2
[leyk]
noun
  1. any of various pigments prepared from animal, vegetable, or coal-tar coloring matters by chemical or other union with metallic compounds.
  2. a red pigment prepared from lac or cochineal by combination with a metallic compound.

Origin of lake

2
First recorded in 1610–20; variant of lac1

Lake

[leyk]
noun
  1. Simon,1866–1945, U.S. engineer and naval architect.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for lake

pool, pond, basin, lagoon, reservoir, creek, spring, sluice, mouth, mere, loch, millpond, tarn

Examples from the Web for lake

Contemporary Examples of lake

Historical Examples of lake

British Dictionary definitions for lake

lake

1
noun
  1. an expanse of water entirely surrounded by land and unconnected to the sea except by rivers or streamsRelated adjective: lacustrine
  2. anything resembling this
  3. a surplus of a liquid commoditya wine lake

Word Origin for lake

C13: lac, via Old French from Latin lacus basin

lake

2
noun
  1. a bright pigment used in textile dyeing and printing inks, produced by the combination of an organic colouring matter with an inorganic compound, usually a metallic salt, oxide, or hydroxideSee also mordant
  2. a red dye obtained by combining a metallic compound with cochineal

Word Origin for lake

C17: variant of lac 1
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for lake
n.1

"body of water," early 12c., from Old French lack and directly from Latin lacus "pond, lake," also "basin, tank," related to lacuna "hole, pit," from PIE *laku- (cf. Greek lakkos "pit, tank, pond," Old Church Slavonic loky "pool, puddle, cistern," Old Irish loch "lake, pond"). The common notion is "basin." There was a Germanic form of the word, which yielded cognate Old Norse lögr "sea flood, water," Old English lacu "stream," lagu "sea flood, water," leccan "to moisten" (see leak). In Middle English, lake, as a descendant of the Old English word, also could mean "stream; river gully; ditch; marsh; grave; pit of hell," and this might have influenced the form of the borrowed word. The North American Great Lakes so called from 1660s.

n.2

"deep red coloring matter," 1610s, from French laque (see lac), from which it was obtained.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
lake in Science

lake

[lāk]
  1. A large inland body of standing fresh or salt water. Lakes generally form in depressions, such as those created by glacial or volcanic action; they may also form when a section of a river becomes dammed or when a channel is isolated by a change in a river's course.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.