la

Clipping of English Latin or Latin Latīnum.

la

1. (international standards) ISO 639-1 language code for Latin.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Latin terms

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː

From Glover's solmization, from Middle English la (“sixth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian la in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin labiī (“lip's”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.

• lah

la (plural las)

1. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the sixth note of a major scale.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     And now Mrs Waters (for we must confess she was in the same bed), being, I suppose, awakened from her sleep, and seeing two men fighting in her bedchamber, began to scream in the most violent manner, crying out murder! robbery! and more frequently rape! which last, some, perhaps, may wonder she should mention, who do not consider that these words of exclamation are used by ladies in a fright, as fa, la, la, ra, da, &c., are in music, only as the vehicles of sound, and without any fixed ideas.

• (music): do, re, mi, fa, sol, ti

Sound used to form meaningless song refrains. Of imitative origin. Compare Old English lā (a common exclamation), Ancient Greek λαλαγε (lalage, “babble”), German lallen (“to babble”).

la

1. Represents the sound of music or singing.

   "La la la la, I can't hear you!" Jimmy said, sticking his fingers in his ears.

   • 2019, Keira Brown, Between the Lines: Never in Plain Sight:

     The only part Lucy had to sing was the interlude, which was a bunch of la la la's, and the last verse of the song, which was only four lines, and the chorus, which was just as short.

From Middle English la, from Old English lā. More at lo.

• law

la

1. (obsolete) Used to introduce a statement with emphatic or intensive effect.
2. (archaic) Expressing surprise, anger. etc.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:

     La, ma'am, what doth your la'ship think? the girl that your la'ship saw at church on Sunday, whom you thought so handsome; though you would not have thought her so handsome neither, if you had seen her nearer, but to be sure she hath been carried before the justice for being big with child.

   • 1811, [Jane Austen], chapter 2, in Sense and Sensibility […], volume III, London: […] C[harles] Roworth, […], and published by T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC:

     “Oh, la! here come the Richardsons. I had a vast deal more to say to you, but I must not stay away from them any longer.”

   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     "La, William, don't be so highty-tighty with us. We're not men. We can't fight you," Miss Jane said.

From French la, Italian la.

la (not comparable)

1. (often ironic) Prefixed to the name of a woman, with ironic effect (as though an opera prima donna).
   • 2007 November 22, Kate Carter, “Graziawatch”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Following lukewarm on the heels of an article a few weeks ago, where (I paraphrase due to having filed the relevant copy in the recycling bin) Victoria Beckham made a "well-meaning" remark that the other Spice Girls might want to lose a few pounds, we now have a new incidence of La Beckham's scintillating and entirely well-meaning humour.

   • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic, published 2011, page 232:

     By judicious leaking, he also managed to make la Kirkpatrick and her associates look rather unsavory.

   • 2025 June 21, Jo Ellison, “The Bezos merger we all want a piece of”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 22:

     (You have to wonder where la Wintour finds the time for all this styling: maybe it's a displacement activity to fill the void left by her failure to get the Democratic party into power?)

Possibly a shortened form of lad.

la (plural las)

1. (Liverpool) lad, kid

• lid (rhyming slang for kid)

From Cantonese 啦 (laa¹). Doublet of lah.

• (Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /lɑː˥/

la (Hong Kong, colloquial)

1. Placed at the end of a sentence in imperatives making it sound more like a request than an order.

   Sleep la! ― [You should] go to bed.

   Eat shit la you! ― You're going to hell! (calque of 食屎啦你！)

2. Used to tone down comments.

   ok la ― not bad; good enough

• lor, wor

la

1. (Singlish, Manglish) Alternative form of lah.

• Al, & al., AL, al, al-, -al, Ål, a.l.

• IPA^(key): [lɑː]

• Audio:

  (file)

la (plural [please provide])

1. (music) la (solfège)

• 2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

• IPA^(key): /ɭa/

la

1. fish

la

1. (Mpakwithi) black snake

• Terry Crowley, The Mpakwithi dialect of Anguthimri (1981), page 186

Probably identical to the feminine suffix -la, which is from Proto-Central Naga *la, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *la (“female”).

la

1. (Chungli) she, her

la

1. (Chungli) bat (flying mammal)

• Gowda, K. S. Gurubasave (1985), Ao-English-Hindi Dictionary, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, page 63
• Gowda, K. S. Gurubasave (1975), Ao Grammar, Mysore: Central Institute of Indian Languages, page 32
• Clark, Mary M. (1893), Ao Naga grammar with illustrative phrases and vocabulary, Molung: Assam Secretariat Printing Office, pages 10, 95

From Latin illa (“that one”).

la

1. her (direct object)

From Latin illac. Compare Romanian la.

la

1. at
2. by

• lla (archaic)
• a (A Estierna)

From Latin illa(m).

la f sg (masculine el, neuter lo, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

1. (definite) the

• The article la contracts to l' before a word beginning with a or ha: l'asturiana (the Asturian), l'habitación (the habitation), because it ends with an A already

la

1. her (third-person singular feminine direct pronoun)

la

1. (Litovska) accusative/independent oblique of joj
   • 2005, Anton Tenser, Lithuanian Romani, Lincom Europa, →ISBN, →OCLC, 4.5.1 Complementizers, page 52:

     me podykhtjom so la nane khere

     I saw that she is not home

• na

la

1. postposition marking location

Inherited from Old Catalan la, from Latin illa (demonstrative) via apheresis.

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /lə/, [ɫə]
• (Valencia) IPA^(key): /la/

la f (masculine el, masculine plural els, feminine plural les)

1. the; feminine singular definite article

• The article la is contracted to l' before a vowel or h, except before a following unstressed I or U sounds, as in la universitat, la idea, and la oliva. Note: Unstressed O sounds like a U.

la (enclitic and proclitic, contracted proclitic l')

1. her (direct object)

• -la is the full (plena) form of the pronoun. It is normally used after verbs.

  Mira-la. ― Look at her.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈla]

la m (plural las)

1. (music) la (sixth note of a diatonic scale)

• “la”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “la”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “la” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “la” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From li- +‎ a or Proto-Bantu *dɪ́á- but used as a particle.

la

1. Class 5 of the particle -a

la

1. I (first-person singular pronoun)

From Latin illa, feminine form of ille (“that”), from Old Latin olle. Cognates include Italian la and French la.

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/
• Homophone: là

la

1. archaic form of a

la

1. archaic form of a

• https://infcor.adecec.net/

From Latin illa(m).

la

1. the; feminine singular definite article

• el
• i
• le

• IPA^(key): /laː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: la
• Rhymes: -aː

From earlier lade through regular syncope of intervocalic -d- (compare weer, blij, broer), from Middle Dutch lāde, from Old Dutch *latha, from Proto-Germanic *hlaþō.

la f (plural laden or la's, diminutive laatje n)

1. drawer

• lade

• bestekla
• bureaula
• schuifla

• Afrikaans: laai
• → Caribbean Hindustani: láh
• → Caribbean Javanese: latye (from the diminutive form)
• → Papiamentu: lachi, laadsje (from lade)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

la f (plural la's, diminutive laatje n)

1. la (music)

• al

From Latin illa(m), feminine form of ille.

• IPA^(key): /la/
• Hyphenation: la

la f sg (plural al or el or li)

1. the

la (personal)

1. (nominative case) she
2. (accusative case) her

• Becomes l’ before a vowel.
• Becomes -la when acting as an enclitic.

Borrowed from French la, Italian la, Spanish la, all ultimately from Medieval Latin ille.

• IPA^(key): /la/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: la

la

1. the

   la libro — the book

   la libroj — the books

   la angla lingvo — the English language

   la angla — (the) English (language) (clipped form)

• l' (poetic)

la

1. abbreviation of lauantai (“Saturday”)

Inherited from Latin illam.

la f (prevocalic l')

1. feminine singular of lo (“the”)

la f (prevocalic l') (ORB, broad)

1. her (third-person singular feminine accusative)

• la [2] in DicoFranPro: Dictionnaire Français/Francoprovençal – on dicofranpro.llm.umontreal.ca
• la in Lo trèsor Arpitan – on arpitan.eu

• IPA^(key): /la/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): [lɑ], [lɔ]

• Audio:

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• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France):

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• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Homophones: là, las

From Middle French la, from Old French la, from Latin illam, which is the accusative singular feminine of ille.^[1]

la f sg

1. feminine of le: the

• la becomes l’ before a vowel or an unaspirated h.

  l’amitié ― the friendship

  l’île ― the island

  l’oasis ― the oasis

• à la

• → Norwegian Bokmål: la

la f sg

1. her, it (direct object)

   Où est Judith ? Je ne la vois pas.

   Where is Judith? I don't see her.

   Prends cette boîte et mets-la dans le coin.

   Take that box and put it in the corner.

la m (invariable)

1. (music) la, the note 'A'

• donner le la

• → Persian: لا (lâ)

• là

• “la”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

From Latin illa(m).

la f sg (plural lis)

1. the

• lis, il

• IPA^(key): [la]

la f (accusative)

1. alternative form of a (“her”)

The l- forms of accusative third-person pronouns are used when the preceding word ends in -r or -s, and is suffixed to the preceding word

• a
• lo
• na

• IPA^(key): [la]

la m (plural las)

1. (music) la (sixth note of the scale)
2. (music) A (the musical note or key)

From Old Galician-Portuguese lãa, from Latin lāna.

• IPA^(key): [laː]

• laa

la f (uncountable)

1. wool

From Portuguese lá. Cognate with Kabuverdianu la.

la

1. there

• IPA^(key): /la/

From French l'art.

la

1. art

la

1. the (definite article)

This article is used only after a word that ends with an oral (non-nasal) vowel and an oral consonant, in that order, and when it modifies a singular noun.

• a
• an
• lan
• nan
• yo
• yon

From French là (“there”).

la

1. there

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɒ]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -lɒ

la

1. (archaic) used in dialects at the end of an exclamatory sentence as an emphasis

   ott van la! ― there it is!

2. a syllable used when singing a tune without lyrics

• (for emphasis): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (syllable used when singing): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (alternative form of lá, used in solfège): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• (used in à la, cf. à): la in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

• (apocopic form) l'

• IPA^(key): /la/

Borrowed from Esperanto la, from French la, Italian la, Spanish la.

la (plural le)

1. the

Prep. + article	Combined form
ad + la	al
de + la	del
di + la	dil
da + la	dal

Borrowed from English la, French la, Italian la, Spanish la, Portuguese lá, German A, Russian ля (lja).

la (plural le la or lai)

1. (music) la

la

1. (accusative) her
2. (dative) to her

la

1. to jump

From Latin illa(m), feminine of ille.

la f sg (masculine el)

1. feminine singular definite article the
   • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 29:

     Ti son la manduleîna inzucherada.

     You are the sugared almond.

From Latin illa(m), feminine form of ille.^[1]

• IPA^(key): ^°/la/^°, /la/^°
  • Hyphenation: la
• IPA^(key): (many dialects) /a/^°

la f sg (plural le)

1. the

• The article la elides with words that begin with a vowel, becoming l'.

la f sg (plural le, masculine lo)

1. (accusative) her, it

   La vedo. ― I see her.

   • a. 1975, Pier Paolo Pasolini:

     […] una improvvisa timidezza però la immobilizza […]

     […] a sudden timidity immobilized her though […]

2. (accusative, formal) you (term of respect)

   La vedo. ― I see you.

   Scusi se la disturbo. ― Sorry to bother you.

• -la (enclitic)

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/^°, /ˈla/^*
• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: là

la m (invariable)

2. (music) la (musical note)
3. (music) A (musical note and scale)

• la maggiore
• la minore

• La (nota) on the Italian Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^it
• la in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

• al

la

1. Rōmaji transcription of ら゚
2. Rōmaji transcription of ラ゚

Borrowed from Burmese လ (la.).

la

1. month

• Kurabe, Keita (31 December 2016), “Phonology of Burmese loanwords in Jinghpaw”, in Kyoto University Linguistic Research‎^[3], volume 35, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 91–128

From Portuguese lá.

la

1. there

la

1. in

   Ni-nja la wawa-mu.

   They are below you.

   (literally, “They are in below you”)

• Marian Klamer (1998), A Grammar of Kambera, Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 127

From ila. Derived from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *si-ida, from Proto-Austronesian *(si-)ida. Compare Central Bikol sinda, Cebuano sila, Tagalog sila, Chamorro siha, Hiligaynon sila, Inonhan sanda, Malay sida, Maranao siran, Ratagnon sanda, Tetum sira, West Miraya Bikol sinra, Yami sira, and Yogad sira.

• IPA^(key): /ˈla/ [ˈlä]
• Hyphenation: la

la

1. they; them (third person plural)

   Synonyms: da, lu, ilu, do, di, de, to

-la- ^[1]

1. to leave, to go

   kula - thou goest

   kulosi - ye go

   bala - I will go

• -wa-

From Latin illa(m).

la f (singular)

1. the

• The article la elides with words that begin with a vowel, becoming l'.

• l
• l'
• i
• les

la (Hebrew spelling לה, plural las, masculine el)

1. the (feminine singular)

From Latin illa(m), feminine singular of ille.

la f sg (masculine el, neuter lu, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

1. the (definite article)

• The prepositions cun, en and pur contract with la, unless la is part of a proper noun.

  ‎cun + ‎la → ‎cula

  ‎en + ‎la → ‎na

  ‎pur + ‎la → ‎pula

• The article la becomes l' before a word beginning with a a or ha:

  l'aviespa ― the wasp

From Proto-Athabaskan *leˑ, *leˑ-nʸ and therefore cognate with Navajo -LĮ́Į́ʼ.

• IPA^(key): /læ/

la

1. to be, exist

Aspect	Imperfective	Perfective	Future	Optative
Neuter	lanh	la'	la'	la'
Neuter (Chena)	lą	la'	la'	la'
Transitional	lax	lat	lax	lax
Reversitative	lax	lanh	lax	lax
Customary	layh	layh	layh	layh

• -ch'exulanh drana (“birthday”)
• ch'wxk'a bexulanenh (“last-born child”)
• et'egheɬdi' bexulanenh (“newborn baby”)
• ghwlą́'/ghwlį́'/ghwla' (“maybe”)
• kwlą́ (“nothing”)
• nelanh (“he/she/it is, exists”)
• nelanenh (“step-relative”)
• nlani (“meat, flesh”)
• tthato xwlaya (“harlequin duck”)
• tthaxw bexulanenh (“firstborn child”)
• xulanh (“it exists (xu-gender)”)

• Kari, James et al. (2024), Kari, James, editor, Lower Tanana Dene Dictionary, Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, →ISBN, pages 267-270

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa-I, from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *ləʔ.

la

1. to take, grab

• IPA^(key): /la/
• Rhymes: -a

pronunciation spelling of lah

la

1. (nonstandard) alternative form of lah

Clipping of la ni, itself a clipping of kala ini, making la a clipping of kala.

la (Jawi spelling لا)

1. (dialectal, Kedah, Kelantan-Pattani, Terengganu) At the present time or moment; now.

   Synonyms: sekarang, la ni, ini

• "la" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

• IPA^(key): /laː/
• Rhymes: -aː
• Usually unstressed and then automatically shortened to /la/.

From Arabic لَا (lā). Doublet of le (“no”).

la

1. Used—optionally—with a negated second-person imperfect verb to express the negated imperative.

   La tisraqx!

   Don't steal!.

2. Used to express negative intention.

la

1. neither, nor

   La jiekol u la jixrob. ― He doesn't eat nor drink.

2. (obsolete) except

   Synonym: ħlief

Probably from Arabic لَمَّا (lammā).

la

1. when

   Synonym: meta

2. since

   Synonym: peress li

• Audio:

  (file)

la (la⁵ / la⁰, Zhuyin ˙ㄌㄚ)

1. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 啦
2. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 嚹
3. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 鞡
4. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 𤷟
5. Hanyu Pinyin reading of 𩋷

la

1. nonstandard spelling of lā
2. nonstandard spelling of lá
3. nonstandard spelling of lǎ
4. nonstandard spelling of là

• Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.

la

1. in

   Kak la marabay, Səmon kona aŋa Yuhana, kà uwana dza asik à uwana apə̀hakala dziriga uwaga aw, ama Baba gulo uwana la zagəla la afik la uwana apə̀hakala uwaga.(Mata 16:17)^[1]

   Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.(Matthew 16:17)

2. from

   Ama ləv aŋatà kà kərkər la gi (Mata 15:8)^[2]

   But their heart is far away from me. (Matthew 15:8)

From French la.

• IPA^(key): [la]

la f (masculine li, masculine and feminine plural lii)

1. the

From Old French la, from Latin illam.

la f (masculine le, masculine and feminine plural les)

1. the

• French: la
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: la

From Old French la.

• là (circa 1550)

la

1. there

• French: là

From Latin illa(m).

la f (plural las, masculine l, masculine plural ls)

1. the

   la lhéngua mirandesa

   the Mirandese language

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“to take”), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *ləʔ.

la (stem II lâk)

1. to take
2. to get

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“cotton”).

la

1. cotton

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“adolescent female”).

la

1. (of female animals) newly mature

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *laa (“spleen”).

la

1. spleen

• Lorrain, J. Herbert (1940), “la”, in Dictionary of the Lushai language, Calcutta: Asiatic Society

la

1. rain

la

1. alternative form of 'a

From Old French la, from Latin illa(m).

• Audio (Jersey):

  (file)

la f (plural les)

1. (Jersey) the (feminine singular definite article)

   la beque ― the spade

   la crôte ― the crust

   la léçon ― the lesson

   la tâsse ― the cup

• (gender) lé

From the verb late.

la (imperative la, present tense lar, simple past lot, past participle latt)

1. to let

   La sovende hunder ligge. ― Let sleeping dogs lie.

2. to leave (in a given state)

   la dem (være) i fred ― leave them alone

From Old Norse hlaða.

la (imperative la, present tense lar, simple past ladde, past participle ladd)

1. alternative form of lade

la

1. simple past of legge

From French la (“the”), from Middle French la (“the”), from Old French la (“the”), from Latin illam (“that, those”), which is the accusative singular feminine of ille (“that, those”), from Old Latin olle (“he, that”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ol-no- or *h₂l̥-no-, from *h₂el- (“beyond, other”).

• IPA^(key): /la/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: la

la

1. (Used in certain expressions of French origin) the

   à la, à la carte, à la grecque, à la mode, à la maison, à la suite

• “la” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/

From Old Norse láta, from Proto-Germanic *lētaną. Akin to English let.

• lata, late (long forms)

la (present tense lar or lèt, past tense lét, supine latt or late, past participle latt or laten, present participle latande, imperative la)

1. let, allow

   La meg få gjera det.

   Let me do it.

• la vera
• la bli
• la seg gjera

From Old Norse hlaða, a strong verb from Proto-Germanic *hlaþaną.

• lada, lade (long forms)

la (present tense lar, past tense ladde, supine ladd or ladt, past participle ladd, present participle ladande, imperative la)

1. (ambitransitive) to load, charge

   Synonym: laste

• lading f
• ladekabel m

• løe f
• lass n
• lade m

From Latin labii, from the first word of the sixth line of Ut queant laxis, the medieval hymn on which solfège was based because its lines started on each note of the scale successively. Through Italian.

la m (definite singular la-en, indefinite plural la-ar, definite plural la-ane)

2. (music) la, a syllable used in solfège to represent the second note of a major scale.

• (scale of solfège): do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

la

1. past of leggja and legga

• “la” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• al

• era (Gascon)
• a, řa (País mentonasc)

From Old Occitan la, from Latin illa(m).

• Audio (Béarn):

  (file)

la (masculine lo, feminine plural las, masculine plural los)

1. the; feminine singular definite article

Unknown. Probably onomatopoeic. Compare Polish ła. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

lā

1. lo!, oh!, ah!

   Lā! næddrena cyn.

   Oh! generation of vipers.

2. Enclitic particle used to emphasise interrogation, exclamation, entreaty, affirmation, negation

   Ðā cwæþ ic hwæt is ðæt lā?

   Then said I, “what is that then?”

• ēalā

• English: lo

From Latin illa(m).

la

1. the (feminine singular oblique definite article)
2. the (feminine singular nominative definite article)
   • c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:

     Trop avons fet grant reposee,
     Recomançomes la meslee!

     We have rested too much
     Let's restart the battle! (literally, “the mix”)

la

1. it (feminine singular object pronoun)

• Middle French: la
  • French: la
    • → Norwegian Bokmål: la

• le

From a form of Proto-Celtic *letos (“side”), from which leth, which could be related to *ɸletos (“side”). However, compare Latin latus. The sense “in the language of” is a semantic loan from Latin apud and is perhaps encountered only in glosses of the Latin construction.

• IPA^(key): /l̪a/

la (with the accusative)

1. with
2. belonging to
3. among
4. in the language of
5. in the opinion of
6. by (indicating the agent of a passive verb)

For quotations using this term, see Citations:la.

Combinations with a definite article:

• lassin (masculine and feminine singular)
• lassa (neuter singular)
• lasna (plural)

Combinations with a possessive determiner:

• lam (“with my”)
• lat (“with your sg”)
• lïa (“with his/her/its/their”)
• lïar (“with our”)

Combinations with a relative pronoun:

• lassa (“with which”)

• Irish: le
• Manx: lesh
• Scottish Gaelic: le

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “la”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Thurneysen, Rudolf (1940) [1909], D. A. Binchy and Osborn Bergin, transl., A Grammar of Old Irish, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, translation of Handbuch des Alt-Irischen (in German), →ISBN, pages 272–73, 523; reprinted 2017

From Latin illa(m).

la (masculine lo)

1. the; feminine singular definite article

• Occitan: la

• (Greater Poland):
  • (Western Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈla]
  • (Central Greater Poland) IPA^(key): [ˈla]

• Audio:

  (file)

la

1. (Central Greater Poland, Western Greater Poland) alternative form of dla

• Oskar Kolberg (1877), “la”, in “Rzecz o mowie ludu wielkopolskiego”, in Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowéj (in Polish), volume 1, III (Materyjały etnologiczne), page 19
• Oskar Kolberg (1877), “la”, in “Rzecz o mowie ludu wielkopolskiego”, in Zbiór wiadomości do antropologii krajowéj (in Polish), volume 1, III (Materyjały etnologiczne), page 27

la

2. alternative form of a (third-person feminine singular objective pronoun) used as an enclitic and mesoclitic following a verb form ending in a consonant (-z, -r and -s, but not -m); the consonant is elided and the preceding vowel takes an accent if necessary

la

1. feminine of e’ (“the”)

• ла (la) — post-1930s Cyrillic spelling

• IPA^(key): /la/
• Rhymes: -a

From Latin illac.

la (+accusative)

1. at, in

   Suntem la Paris.

   We're in Paris.

2. to, towards

From Latin lavāre, from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”). The form la developed from an older lăa, which itself is from an older lăua. The Transylvanian variant lăia is derived from one.

• lăia — Transylvania

a la (third-person singular present lă, past participle lăut, third-person subjunctive laie) 1st conjugation

1. (uncommon) to wash (especially the head)

   Synonyms: se spăla, scălda, îmbăia

• lăutoare, lăutură

• lături
• lăun
• spăla

• Ana-Maria Iorga Mihail (June 2013), “Relevanța tipologică a trăsăturii [±animat] în realizarea prepozițională a dativului din construcția ditranzitivă [The typological relevance of the trait [±animate] in the prepositional realisation of the dative in the ditransitive construction]”, in Limba română‎^[4] (in Romanian), volume 62, number 2, Bucharest: Romanian Academy, page 174
• “la”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

la

1. sun

la

1. name

• Basic Vocabulary, page 63

• -lla (pronoun, enclitic, used when previous syllable is stressed)
• -ra (pronoun, enclitic, used when previous syllable is unstressed)

From Latin illa, feminine of ille (“that”).

• IPA^(key): /la/, (after a word ending in a vowel) /ra/

la f sg (plural li, masculine lu)

1. the (feminine singular)

• Becomes l' before a vowel.

la f (plural li, masculine lu)

1. (followed by chi) that
2. her (accusative)
3. it (accusative)

• Rubattu, Antoninu (2006), Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes

From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illa, from Latin illam, from illa.

• a

• IPA^(key): /la/

la f sg (m lu, plural li)

1. (feminine singular definite article) the

   Synonym: a

• This article is nowadays an obsolete variant, unlike its illiquid counterpart a. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
• Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
• Its use is however almost undisputed before nouns (or nominalized forms of other parts of speech, most often adjectives) that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'. Otherwise, illiquid definite articles are phonetically absorbed by the following noun. I.e: l'arancina (liquid) and ârancina (illiquid).

From the apheresis of Vulgar Latin *illa, from Latin illam, from illa.

• -la (enclitic)
• a (illiquid form)

• IPA^(key): /la/

la f sg (plural li, masculine lu)

1. (accusative) her

   Synonym: a

   La canusci? ― Do you know her?

2. (accusative) it, this or that thing

   Synonym: a

   Quannu ti la desi. ― When I gave it to you.

• This pronoun is now an obsolete variant. It is currently used only in some restricted areas where it is still withheld in conversational communications.
• Today it is mostly used in crystallized contexts, such as singing, poetry or sayings and proverbs. In all these cases this definite article is more euphonetic than the variants, now predominant, which have undergone the lenition of the initial liquid consonant.
• Its use is however almost undisputed before words that begin with vowels. In this case the form is an apocopic l'.

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

la

1. these; class 6 proximal demonstrative.

• IPA^(key): /la/ [la]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: la

From Old Spanish ela, from Latin illa(m), feminine singular of ille.

la f sg (plural las, masculine el, masculine plural los)

1. feminine singular definite article; the
   • 2025 June 20, Randi Kaye and David von Blohn, “El ICE renueva acuerdo con el centro de detención que, según la agencia, no cumplía las normas”, in CNN en Español‎^[5]:

     En un correo electrónico, el ICE dijo a CNN que había determinado que Glades puede ayudar a “despejar la acumulación” de inmigrantes indocumentados en el país.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

la

1. accusative of ella, ello (when the antecedent's implied gender is feminine), and usted (when referring to a woman); her, it, you (formal)
2. impersonal neuter pronoun (accusative) in certain colloquial phrases: it, this

   La sabe toda.

   He/she knows everything (it all)

   ¿¡Dónde la viste!?

   Where did you see that!?

   No te la creo.

   I don't believe you. (from, "I don't believe you [when it comes to] this.")

• Sometimes used where English would prefer a possessive: tengo algo en la bolsa (literally “I have something in the bag”) as opposed to tengo algo en mi bolsa (“I have something in my bag”). This is especially true with body parts and with articles of clothing or similar accessories.
• Where a feminine noun begins with stressed IPA^(key): /a/, el is used instead: el alma, el águila, el hacha. The article remains la where an adjective intervenes between the article and the noun: la majestuosa águila. The plural remains las.

• → Translingual: La

la m (plural las)

1. (music) la (sixth note of the scale)
2. (music) A (the musical note or key)

• “la”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

• al

la

1. romanization of 𒆷 (la)

Other scripts
Ajami	ـلَ

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *-dɪ́a.

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /lɑ/ (with stress on preceding syllable)

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

-la (infinitive kula)

1. to eat
2. (by extension) to consume, to eradicate

Conjugation of -la
Positive present -nakula Subjunctive -le Negative -li Imperative singular kula
Infinitives
Positive kula Negative kutokula
Imperatives
Singular kula Plural kuleni
Tensed forms
Habitual hula Positive past positive subject concord + -likula Negative past negative subject concord + -kula
Positive present (positive subject concord + -nakula) Singular Plural 1st person ninakula/nakula tunakula 2nd person unakula mnakula 3rd person m-wa(I/II) anakula wanakula other classes positive subject concord + -nakula
Negative present (negative subject concord + -li) Singular Plural 1st person sili hatuli 2nd person huli hamli 3rd person m-wa(I/II) hali hawali other classes negative subject concord + -li
Positive future positive subject concord + -takula Negative future negative subject concord + -takula
Positive subjunctive (positive subject concord + -le) Singular Plural 1st person nile tule 2nd person ule mle 3rd person m-wa(I/II) ale wale other classes positive subject concord + -le
Negative subjunctive positive subject concord + -sile Positive present conditional positive subject concord + -ngekula Negative present conditional positive subject concord + -singekula Positive past conditional positive subject concord + -ngalikula Negative past conditional positive subject concord + -singalikula
Gnomic (positive subject concord + -ala) Singular Plural 1st person nala twala 2nd person wala mwala 3rd person m-wa(I/II) ala wala m-mi(III/IV) wala yala ji-ma(V/VI) lala yala ki-vi(VII/VIII) chala vyala n(IX/X) yala zala u(XI) wala see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) kwala pa(XVI) pala mu(XVIII) mwala
Perfect positive subject concord + -mekula "Already" positive subject concord + -meshakula "Not yet" negative subject concord + -jala "If/When" positive subject concord + -kila "If not" positive subject concord + -sipokula Consecutive kala / positive subject concord + -kala Consecutive subjunctive positive subject concord + -kale
Object concord (indicative positive) Singular Plural 1st person -nila -tula 2nd person -kula -wala/-kuleni/-waleni 3rd person m-wa(I/II) -mla -wala m-mi(III/IV) -ula -ila ji-ma(V/VI) -lila -yala ki-vi(VII/VIII) -kila -vila n(IX/X) -ila -zila u(XI) -ula see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kula pa(XVI) -pala mu(XVIII) -mula Reflexive -jila
Relative forms General positive (positive subject concord + (object concord) + -la- + relative marker) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -laye -lao m-mi(III/IV) -lao -layo ji-ma(V/VI) -lalo -layo ki-vi(VII/VIII) -lacho -lavyo n(IX/X) -layo -lazo u(XI) -lao see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -lako pa(XVI) -lapo mu(XVIII) -lamo Other forms (subject concord + tense marker + relative marker + (object concord) + -kula) Singular Plural m-wa(I/II) -yekula -okula m-mi(III/IV) -okula -yokula ji-ma(V/VI) -lokula -yokula ki-vi(VII/VIII) -chokula -vyokula n(IX/X) -yokula -zokula u(XI) -okula see n(X) or ma(VI) class ku(XV/XVII) -kokula pa(XVI) -pokula mu(XVIII) -mokula
Some forms not commonly seen in modern Standard Swahili are absent from the table. See Appendix:Swahili verbs for more information.

• Verbal derivations:
  • Applicative: -lia
  • Causative: -lisha (“to feed”)
  • Passive: -liwa
  • Stative: -lika (“be edible”)
  • Other formations: -la chumvi nyingi (“to live a long life (idiomatic)”), -la fedha, -la hasara, -la njama, -la rushwa, -la yamini

• Nominal derivations:
  • chakula (“food”)
  • mla (“eater”)
  • mlo (“meal”)
  • ulaji (“eating”)

Borrowed from Arabic لَا (lā).^[1]

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

la

1. no

• siyo
• hapana

Other scripts
Ajami	لَـ

See -a.

• (Unguja standard) IPA^(key): /lɑ/

• Audio (Kenya):

  (file)

la

1. ji class_(V) inflected form of -a

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

• lade

• IPA^(key): /lɑː/
• Rhymes: -ɑː

la

1. past indicative of lägga

Clipping of earlier fälle and fuller. Listed in a dictionary from the 1800s, and believed to have existed for longer.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /la/^[1]

la (not comparable)

1. (dialectal, Gothenburg, Västergötland) synonym of väl

• -al, al

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /la/ [lɐ]
• Rhymes: -a
• Syllabification: la

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

1. used in directing an animal to stop, especially carabaos and cattle

• ho
• han

Borrowed from Spanish la, from Latin labii.

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

1. la (the note 'A')

Influenced by Baybayin character ᜎ (la).

la (Baybayin spelling ᜎ)

1. the name of the Latin script letter L/l, in the Abakada alphabet

   Synonyms: (in the Filipino alphabet) el, (in the Abecedario) ele

• lala

• “la”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, 2018

la

1. not

la

1. I; the first-person singular masculine pronoun; the first-person singular pronoun used by adult men

• čiʰké (first-person singular feminine pronoun, first-person singular pronoun used by adult women)
• če (first-person singular pronoun used by children)
• čiʰke-lá (first-person plural pronoun)

• The Languages of the Andes (2004, Willem F. H. Adelaar, Pieter C. Muysken)

• lan

la

1. (dialectal) ulan

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [laː˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [laː˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [laː˧˧]

• Audio (Hà Nội):

  (file)

la • (羅, 囉)

1. to cry, to shout
2. (Central Vietnam, Southern Vietnam) to reprimand, to scold

   Synonyms: mắng, quát

   bị vợ la ― to be scolded by wife

Non-Sino-Vietnamese reading of Chinese 騾 (“mule”, SV: loa).

(classifier con) la • (騾)

1. horse–donkey hybrid; mule or hinny

• lừa

Borrowed from French la.

(classifier nốt) la

1. (music) la; A

• laa

From laskõa. Compare Estonian las.

• (Luutsa, Liivtšülä) IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ/, [ˈɫɑ]
• Rhymes: -ɑ
• Hyphenation: la

la

1. let (with a verb); forms a first-person or third-person imperative.

• Usually used with the indicative present personal forms of verbs. The verb may also be inflected in the negative to create a negative imperative.
• The person who is allowed to do something may be placed between la and the verb in the nominative.
• The third-person imperatives using la (e.g. la teeb) are more common than the forms using -ko(d) (tehko).
• Forming second-person imperatives with la is theoretically possible, but practically never done; the inflected imperative forms are used instead.

• Hallap, V.; Adler, E.; Grünberg, S.; Leppik, M. (2012), “la”, in Vadja keele sõnaraamat [A dictionary of the Votic language], 2nd edition, Tallinn

From Latin illac.

• IPA^(key): /la/

la

1. there

• låvå

• chal, droci

la

1. you (second-person singular object pronoun)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

la

1. these; class 6 proximal demonstrative.

From Proto-Southern Jê *ra (“sun”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈla]

la

1. sun

la

1. name

Proposed to have derived from Proto-Yoruboid *lá. Possibly cognate with Proto-Bantu *-dáada

• IPA^(key): /lá/

lá

1. to dream

Proposed to have derived from Proto-Yoruboid *lá

• IPA^(key): /lá/

lá

1. to lick, including with one's finger

   Synonym: pọ́n lá

2. to become worn out

• IPA^(key): /là/

là

1. to be wealthy; to become wealthy, to become rich

• IPA^(key): /là/

là

1. to dilute a liquid

   Synonym: fi omi lú

• IPA^(key): /là/

là

1. to shine like the moon/sun/light, to glow, to radiate

   òòrùn-ún là ― The sun shone

• IPA^(key): /là/

là

1. to survive

• IPA^(key): /là/

là

1. to cut, to divide, to separate, to slice

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /ˈlá/

la

1. these; class 6 proximal demonstrative.

• C. M. Doke; B. W. Vilakazi (1972), “la”, in Zulu-English Dictionary, →ISBN: “la (2)”