Lao
noun
a member of a people of Laos and northern Thailand.
Lao
American
[lou]
/ laʊ /
noun
plural
Laos,plural
Lao-
a member of a people of Laos and northern Thailand.
-
the Tai language of the Lao.
adjective
LAO
1
British
abbreviation
Lao
2
British
/ laʊ /
adjective
Etymology
Origin of Lao
First recorded in 1880–85; from Lao Láo, a self-designation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished,” Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 29, 2026
Honworld Group, the holding company for cooking wine and soy sauce maker Lao Heng He in Zhejiang province, said household spending was weaker than expected, leading other brands to unload inventory at low prices.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 28, 2026
Most of the 18 passengers were teachers from Hanoi on a charity trip to Lao Cai province, where the accident occurred on a long downhill stretch in Phinh Ho commune.
From Barron's • Dec. 27, 2025
Anthonin says he was helping some other passengers retrieve their luggage at the back of the sinking ferry when he saw a Lao mother and her two children.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
And then Lao Lao went to her room and began to read her fortune sticks.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
