lave
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /leɪv/
rhymes: -eɪv
Forms: form: laves
form: laving
form: laved
form: laved
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: lave
form: lave
form: laved
form: lave
form: lavest
form: laved
form: lavedst
form: laves
form: laveth
form: laved
form: lave
form: laved
form: lave
form: laved
form: lave
form: -
form: laving
form: laved
Etymology: The verb is derived from Middle English laven (“to bathe, wash; to bail or draw water, drain, exhaust; to dampen, wet; to pour; of water, etc.: to flow, stream”), and then partly:
* from Old French laver (“to be washed; to wash”) (modern French laver (“to wash (oneself)”)), from Latin lavāre, the present active infinitive of lavō (“to bathe, wash; to dampen, wet”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”); and
* from Old English lafian (“to bathe; to make wet; to ladle out; to pour”), from Proto-West Germanic *labōn (“to refresh, revitalize; to strengthen”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Latin lavō (see above) but this does not explain the change in meaning from “to wash; to wet” to “to refresh; to strengthen”. Perhaps Old English lafian is derived directly from the Latin word, and Proto-West Germanic *labōn and words in languages derived from it such as Dutch and German are coincidentally similar to the Old English word.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: [M]y houſe vvithin the City / Is richly furniſhed vvith plate and gold, / Baſons and evvers to laue her dainty hands: […]
ref: c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 217, column 2:
text: [W]e muſt laue / Our Honors in theſe flattering ſtreames, / And make our Faces Vizards to our Hearts, / Diſguiſing vvhat they are.
ref: c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 140, column 2:
text: VVith Nectar pure his oozy Lock's he laves.
ref: 1637, John Milton, “Lycidas”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 64:
text: [F]rom my vveary'd limbs I lave / The foul pollution of the briny vvave: […]
ref: 1725, Homer, “Book VI”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume II, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC, page 77, lines 259–260:
text: Thanks be to God! He laveth the thirsty land! The waters gather; they rush along; they are lifting their voices.
ref: 1846 August 26 (first performance), [Julius Schubring, librettist]; Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, composer, translated by [William Bartholomew], Elijah: A Sacred Oratorio. […], Boston, Mass.: Oakes & Darling, […], published 1851, 1st part, page 3, column 2:
text: Rita stripped in haste and padded out to the wash-basin and lathered her body all over and laved it several times in fresh water before feeling she had washed off it a contact with Mrs Dibble's dirty old carcass, which shocked the self-esteem of her own shapely body.
ref: 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 31:
glosses: To bathe or wash (someone or something).
examples: text: VVith roomy decks, her Guns of mighty ſtrength, / (VVhoſe lovv-laid mouthes each mounting billovv laves:) / Deep in her draught, and vvarlike in her length, / She ſeems a Sea-vvaſp flying on the vvaves.
ref: 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, stanza 153, page 39:
text: Scamandrius vvas his name, vvhich Hector gave, / From that fair flood [the Scamander or Karamenderes River] vvhich Ilion's vvall did lave: […]
ref: a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache. From the Sixth Book of the Iliad.”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 451:
text: [M]ild Parthenope’s delightful Shore, / VVhere huſh'd in Clams the bord’ring Ocean laves / Her ſilent Coaſt, and rolls in languid VVaves; […]
ref: 1705, J[oseph] Addison, “Naples”, in Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 215:
text: Delicious is your Shelter to the Soul, / As to the hunted Hart the ſallying Spring, / Or Stream full-flovving, that his ſvvelling Sides / Laves, as He floats along the Herbag'd Brink.
ref: 1727, James Thomson, Summer. A Poem, […] J[ohn] Millan, […], →OCLC, page 34:
text: Pleas'd I look back and vievv the tranquil tide / That laves the pebbled shore.
ref: 1789, W[illiam] L[isle] Bowles, “Sonnet I. Written at Tinemouth, Northumberland, after a Tempestuous Voyage.”, in Sonnets, […] with Other Poems, 3rd edition, Bath, Somerset: […] R. Cruttwell; and sold by C[harles] Dilly, […], published 1794, →OCLC, page 3:
text: [S]o oft the flood, / Jove's offspring, laved his ſhoulders.
ref: 1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XXI.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 560, lines 317–318:
text: There, though the summer day, / Cool streams are laving; […]
ref: 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Canto Third. The Hostel, or Inn.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza X, page 142:
text: Wild sparkles crest the broken tides, / And, flashing round, the vessel's sides / With elvish lustre lave, […]
ref: 1815, Walter Scott, “Canto First”, in The Lord of the Isles, a Poem, Edinburgh: […] [F]or Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; by James Ballantyne and Co., […], →OCLC, stanza XXI, page 29:
text: O Isis! noble Isis [the Thames]! in thee quivers / Eternal Oxford's wondrous Gothic glory, / Poetic towers and pinnacles of pride: / And, loftier in thy power than classic rivers, / Changing thy name by some green promontory, / Thou lavest London with an ampler tide.
ref: 1855, Mortimer Collins, Idyls and Rhymes, Dublin: J. Mc Glashan, […]; London: W[illiam] S[omerville] Orr and Company, […], →OCLC, page 77:
glosses: Of a river or other water body: to flow along or past (a place or thing); to wash.
examples: text: Then the Lead being melted, […] it is laved into the Pan, […]
ref: 1703, Richard Neve, “Lead”, in The City and Country Purchaser, and Builder’s Dictionary: Or, The Compleat Builders Guide. […], 2nd edition, London: […] D. Browne, […]; J. and B. Sprint […], G. Conyers […]; and Ch[arles] Rivington […], published 1726, →OCLC, column 2:
glosses: Followed by into, on, or upon: to pour (water or some other liquid) with or as if with a ladle into or on someone or something; to lade, to ladle.
examples: text: And now, she sat down under the leafless tree, to weep; and in those bitter tears, childhood itself was laved from her soul for ever.
ref: 1843, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Broken Gittern”, in The Last of the Barons, volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I (The Adventures of Master Marmaduke Nevile), page 36:
glosses: To remove (something), as if by washing away with water.
examples: text: [W]hen the midnight moon did lave / Her forehead in the silver wave, / How solemn on the ear would come / The holy mattin's distant hum, […]
ref: 1810, Walter Scott, “Canto I. The Chase.”, in The Lady of the Lake; […], Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for John Ballantyne and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and William Miller, →OCLC, stanza XV, page 19:
text: Approach, encompassing Death—strong Deliveress! / When it is so—when thou hast taken them, I joyously sing the dead, / Lost in the loving, floating ocean of thee, / Laved in the flood of thy bliss, O Death.
ref: 1865 (indicated as 1865–1866), Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps. […] When Lilacs Last in the Door-yard Bloom’d. And Other Pieces, Washington, D.C.: Gibson Brothers, […], →OCLC, canto 16, stanza 21, page 10:
glosses: To surround or gently touch (someone or something), as if with water.
examples: text: "Who could resist such a temptation?" he drawled, and bent to lave each nipple with his tongue till the satin was wet and clinging.
ref: 1998, Miranda Lee, The Boss’s Baby, Richmond, Surrey: Harlequin Mills & Boon, →ISBN, page 102:
text: Liam's mouth was so hot and wet on his cock, his tongue so wicked, laving his shaft expertly with smooth, slick strokes, delving into his slit and swiping away the fluid leaking from it. Why was Liam doing this?
ref: 2014 February 21, Scarlet Blackwell, Beached Hearts, Lincoln, Lincolnshire: Total-E-Bound Publishing, →ISBN:
text: He continued to lave her with gentle laps, while his fingers caressed her until she cried out and her whole body convulsed.
ref: 2011, Karen Foley, chapter 8, in Devil in Dress Blues, Don Mills, Ont.: Harlequin Enterprises, →ISBN, page 111:
glosses: Chiefly in sexual contexts: to lick (someone or something).
examples: text: Thou haſt plaid muſique to my dolefull ſoule; / And vvhen my heart vvas tympaniz'd vvith griefe, / Thou lauedſt out ſome into thy heart from mine, / And kept it ſo from burſting; […]
ref: c. 1613–1618 (first performance), Thomas Goffe, The Tragedy of Orestes, […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Richard Meighen, […], published 1633, →OCLC, Act IIII, scene ii, signature F2, verso:
text: [W]hen I haue laved the Sea dry, thou ſhalt vnderſtand the myſtery of the Trinity; […]
ref: 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “An Heape of Other Accidents Causing Melancholy. Death of Friends, Losses, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 2, member 4, subsection 7, page 148:
text: And now, as we were weary with pumping and laving out the water [from the boat], almost sinking, it pleas'd God on the suddaine to appease the wind, and with much ado and greate perill we recover'd the shore, which we now kept in view, […]
ref: 1644 October 25 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for 15 October 1644]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC, page 73:
text: Each in his vvay, officiously they vvrought; / Some ſtovv their Oars, or ſtop the leaky Sides, / Another bolder yet the Yard beſtrides, / And folds the Sails; a fourth vvith Labour, laves, / Th'intruding Seas, and VVaves ejects on VVaves.
ref: 1700, [John] Dryden, “Ceyx and Alcyone”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 365:
glosses: Followed by out or up: to draw or scoop (water) out of something with a bucket, scoop, etc.; specifically, to bail (water) out of a boat.
examples: text: Happy he that ſips Eternally ſuch Nectar dovvn, that unconfin'd may Lave, and VVanton there in ſateleſs Draughts of ever ſpringing Beauty— […]
ref: 1700 (date written), Colley Cibber, Love Makes a Man: Or, The Fop’s Fortune. A Comedy. […], London: […] Richard Parker […], Hugh Newman […], and E. Rumbal […], published 1701, →OCLC, Act II, page 19:
text: The ſilver Stream her Virgin Coldneſs keeps, / For ever murmurs, and for ever vveeps; / […] / In her chaſt Current oft the Goddeſs laves, / And vvith Celeſtial Tears augments the VVaves.
ref: 1713, [Alexander] Pope, Windsor-Forest. […], London: […] Bernard Lintott […], →OCLC, page 9:
glosses: To bathe or wash.
glosses: To surround as if with water.
examples: text: Alexander went from laving at her breasts to nuzzling her belly and then his mouth was on her bare thigh, nibbling at her flesh as his fingers delved inside her sheath. She felt herself stretch and squeeze against his long fingers.
ref: 2011, Eliza Knight, chapter 10, in A Lady’s Charade (The Rules of Chivalry; 1), [South Carolina]: CreateSpace Independent, →ISBN, page 122:
text: He pressed them back down and continued licking, laving at her as her inner muscles contracted around his fingers and she panted out his name. He didn't relent until the last shudder rippled through her beautiful body.
ref: 2015, Melissa Foster, Healed by Love (Love in Bloom; The Bradens at Peaceful Harbor; 1), Los Gatos, Calif.: Smashwords, →ISBN:
text: [I]t took only a few moments of his tongue laving at her core before she was exploding in a mind-drugging climax that made her throat sore from her cries.
ref: 2016 April 15, Elizabeth Lennox, chapter 9, in The Prince’s Forbidden Lover (The Samara Royal Family Series; 3), [S.l.]: Elizabeth Lennox Books, →ISBN:
glosses: Chiefly in sexual contexts; followed by at: to lick.
Derived terms: word: belave
word: lave net
word: laving
word: unlaved
word: unlaving
Related terms: lather
launder
laundry
lavant
lavatory
lavender
laver
lavish
lavy
lye