laurence

[lawr-uh ns, lor-]

noun

Physics. a shimmering effect seen over a hot surface, such as a pavement or roadway, on a clear and calm day, caused by the irregular refraction of light.Compare scintillation(def 4).

Origin of laurence

First recorded in 1790–1800; of unexplained orig.

Laurence

[lawr-uh ns, lor-]

noun

a male given name, form of Lawrence.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for laurence

Contemporary Examples of laurence

Laurence Fishburne is the titular character in the 1995 film of Othello.
Shakespeare’s Movie Magic
Marina Watts, Malcolm Jones
April 24, 2014
Somewhere in the Afterlife, Laurence Sterne must have been tickled to see his fiendish book infused with new life.
Crazy Cartography: Artists and Writers Conjure a Slew of Imaginative Maps
Lauren Elkin
April 13, 2014
My editor, the renowned Laurence Gandar, called me to his office to be questioned.
Mandela, My Source: One Journalist’s Memory of Clandestine Meetings
Benjamin Pogrund
December 6, 2013
Laurence and I are very lucky in that we get on well and the chemistry seems to work.
Meet ‘Inspector Lewis’: Kevin Whately on ‘Morse,’ John Thaw, and the End of the Series
Jace Lacob
June 14, 2013
He's a live wire, Laurence: very, very intelligent and he can keep a whole unit bubbling along.
Meet ‘Inspector Lewis’: Kevin Whately on ‘Morse,’ John Thaw, and the End of the Series
Jace Lacob
June 14, 2013

Historical Examples of laurence

De Chilly was then helping on a charming girl named Laurence Grard.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
He then rang the bell and told the boy to show in Mlle. Laurence Grard.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
There I found Laurence Grard, but she was fetched away the next moment.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
Mr. Laurence could not deny the fact, and so he looked undecided, and was silent.
Masterpieces of Mystery
Various
"Enough, Blanche," Mr. Laurence continued, in a softer voice.
Masterpieces of Mystery
Various

British Dictionary definitions for laurence

Laurence

noun

Margaret, full name Jean Margaret Laurence, 1926–87, Canadian novelist and short story writer; her novels include The Stone Angel (1964)

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 laurence

Laurence

masc. proper name, from Old French Lorenz (French Laurent), from Latin Laurentius, literally "of Laurentum," a maritime town in Latium, literally "town of bay trees," from laurus (see laurel). The Italian form is Lorenzo. A popular given name in the Middle Ages, as a surname it is attested in England from mid-12c. Larkin is a pet-form. For some reason, the name since at least 18c. has been the personification of indolence (cf. also German der faule Lenz "Lazy Lawrence"). But in Scotland, the pet form Lowrie has been used for "a fox" (c.1500), also for "a crafty person" (1560s).