lau

lau

1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Laba.

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Laba terms

lau (third-person singular simple present laus, present participle lauing, simple past and past participle laued)

1. (Polari) To place upon; to put down onto.

• Ula, Lua, Aul, UAL, aul, -ual, ULA, LUA, ALU, alu

• alau

From Latin lavō. Compare Romanian la, lau.

lau (third-person singular la, participle latã)

1. to wash
2. (reflexive, mi-lau) to wash oneself

• spel, aspel

• lari/lare
• lat
• spel

• ascaldu
• culimbisescu

• IPA^(key): /lau̯/ [lau̯]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -au̯
• Hyphenation: lau

From Proto-Basque *lanu, from Latin plānum.

lau (comparative lauago, superlative lauen, excessive lauegi)

1. flat, level
2. plain, simple

lau (comparative lauago, superlative lauen, excessive lauegi)

1. simply

lau inan

1. plain (an open, grassy, mostly treeless land)

Basque numbers ^(edit)

	40
←  3	4	5  →
Cardinal: lau     Ordinal: laugarren     Multiplier: laukoitz     Distributive: launa     Collective: laukote     Fractional: laurden

From Proto-Basque *lauR (“four”). Often compared with Iberian laur (“four”) and Aquitanian *laur-, present in numerous compounds, such as *laurco, *laurina and in the toponym *Laureiereta (“Four Mills”).^[1][2][3] Possibly related to labur.

lau

1. four

• “lau”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “lau”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

lau

1. H-system spelling of laŭ

Inherited from Proto-Oceanic *laur, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lahud, from Proto-Austronesian *lahud.

lau

1. (obsolete) east

   Synonym: tokalau

lau (Old Bressan, Old Dauphinois)

1. alternative form of lèc (“lake”)

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “lacus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volume 5: J L, page 126

Inherited from Proto-Oceanic *laur, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lahud, from Proto-Austronesian *lahud.

lau

1. the high sea, an open unenclosed portion of the sea

   Launen demadodime.

   They are on the high sea.

• Gleason, H. A. (1955). Gedaged-English Dictionary, by J. F. Mager. Language, 31(1), p. 166

From Middle High German lā (inflected lāwe), from Old High German lāo, from Proto-West Germanic *hlāu, from Proto-Germanic *hlēwaz. Cognate with Dutch lauw. Also related to English lukewarm.

• IPA^(key): /laʊ̯/
• Rhymes: -aʊ̯

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

lau (strong nominative masculine singular lauer, comparative lauer, superlative am lauesten or am lausten)

1. synonym of lauwarm (“lukewarm, tepid”)
2. (often of wind or the night) mild; especially in the sense that it is pleasantly cool after a period of heat

   Synonym: mild

   Es war eine laue Sommernacht. ― It was a mild summer night. [i.e. one that is warm, but bringing welcome cooling after a hot day]

3. cushy, easy

   ein lauer Job ― a cushy job

• für lau
• lauer Lenz (“period of idleness”)

sich einen lauen Lenz machen ― to get on a gravy train, to ride the gravy train

• “lau” in Duden online
• “lau” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

• IPA^(key): /ˈlau̯/, [ˈlɐw], [ˈlɔw] (rapid speech)

Inherited from Proto-Eastern Polynesian *lau, from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *lau, from Proto-Polynesian *rau, from Proto-Central Pacific *rau, from Proto-Oceanic *raun, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *raun, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *daun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun (“leaf”) (compare with Malay daun, Tagalog dahon).

lau

1. leaf; frond; greens

Inherited from Proto-Polynesian *rau (“hundred”).

lau

1. (stative) many, numerous

lau

1. four hundred

• Pukui, Mary Kawena; Elbert, Samuel H. (1986), “lau”, in Hawaiian Dictionary, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN

lau

1. 1st-person singular pronoun: I, me

lau m (genitive laavesko, nominative plural laave, genitive plural laavengo)

1. word
2. talk

• lauo (Spanish orthography, obsolete)
• lawu (Súlat Wáwâ)

From Sanskrit राहु (rāhu, “Rāhu”). Compare Tagalog laho.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlauʔ/ [ˈläː.uʔ]
• Hyphenation: la‧u

láû

1. eclipse (usually of the moon)

   Synonyms: eklipsi, sisilim

2. sudden or mysterious disappearance
3. disappearance of one's emotion or feeling (of pain, tiredness, etc.)
4. (obsolete) lunar eclipse

   Coordinate term: lau bulan

5. (obsolete) very black cloud

   Synonyms: lulam, dulum

6. (folklore, obsolete) eclipse monster that devours the moon

lau

1. water

• Ahmad Samin Siregar et al. (2001). Kamus Bahasa Karo–Indonesia. Medan: Balai Pustaka, p. 119.

Clipping of kalau.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaw/ [ˈlau̯]
• Rhymes: -lau, -au

lau

1. (colloquial) apheretic form of kalau.

• Hoogervorst, Tom (2015), “Malay youth language in West Malaysia”, in NUSA‎^[2], volume 58, number 3, →DOI, archived from the original on 26 April 2025, page 29

lau

1. alternative form of lawe

lau

1. tongue

Inherited from Proto-Oceanic *laur, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lahud, from Proto-Austronesian *lahud.

lau

1. seaside (as opposed to the inland)
2. beach (as approached from the land)

• Codrington, R. H. & Palmer, John. (1896). A dictionary of the language of Mota, Sugarloaf Island, Banks' Islands with a short grammar and index. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, p. 46

Inherited from Proto-Polynesian *rau, from Proto-Central Pacific *rau, from Proto-Oceanic *raun, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *raun, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *daun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun (“leaf”) (compare with Malay daun, Tagalog dahon).

lau

1. leaf
2. page of a book, etc.

• “lau” in Tohi Vagahau Niuē (Niuean Language Dictionary).

• lööw (Föhr-Amrum, also Mooring variant)
• Lööv (Sylt)

From Old Frisian *lewa, from Proto-West Germanic *lēwō. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Leeuwe.

lau m (plural laue)

1. (Mooring) lion

From Proto-Brythonic *llọβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *ɸlāmā, from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₂meh₂ (“palm, hand”).

lau f

1. hand

• Middle Welsh: llaw
  • Welsh: llaw

lau

1. wide

laú

1. water

lau

1. inflection of la:
   1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. third-person plural present/imperfect indicative

Inherited from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian *lau, from Proto-Polynesian *rau, from Proto-Central Pacific *rau, from Proto-Oceanic *raun, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *raun, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *daun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun (“leaf”) (compare with Malay daun, Tagalog dahon).

lau

1. leaf

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ʀatus, from Proto-Austronesian *ɣatus (“hundred”) (compare Malay ratus).

lau

1. hundred

• lua lau (“two hundred”)

lau

1. away

   ṣañ wrat lau tärkanacer

   You are going to break your vow.

   (literally, “You are going to let your vow away.”)

• lou

Inherited from Proto-Polynesian *rau, from Proto-Central Pacific *rau, from Proto-Oceanic *raun, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *raun, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *daun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun (“leaf”) (compare with Malay daun, Tagalog dahon).

• IPA^(key): /la.u/

lau

1. leaf
2. sheet, layer of paper, board, etc.
3. (polite, honorific) hair

   Synonym: louʻulu

• Churchward, C. Maxwell (1959), Tongan dictionary: Tongan-English and English-Tongan, →OCLC, page 284

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [law˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [law˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [la(ː)w˧˧]

• Audio (Saigon):

  (file)

From Proto-Vietic *k-luː, cognate with Arem alaw.

(classifier cây) lau • (𣓿, 𦰤)

1. reed, arundinaceous cane

lau

1. to clean by wiping or rubbing with a wet cloth

• giặt
• rửa

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /laɨ̯/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /lai̯/

lau

1. soft mutation of llau (“lice”)

• laug (for ruminant mammals)

From Proto-Hmong *ʔljuwᴮ (“male”).^[1]

• IPA^(key): /lau̯˧/

lau

1. (of birds) male

• Heimbach, Ernest E. (1979), White Hmong — English Dictionary‎^[3], SEAP Publications, →ISBN, page 105.