Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#LASSCategory:English terms derived from Middle English#LASS las, lasce, lasse (“female infant or child; young woman”),^[1] traditionally derived from Old NorseCategory:English terms derived from Old Norse#LASS lǫskr (“unmarried”, adjective);^[2][3] see Middle English las for more.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /læs/Category:English 1-syllable words#LASSCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#LASS

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#LASS
• Rhymes: -æsCategory:Rhymes:English/æs#LASSCategory:Rhymes:English/æs/1 syllable#LASS

Noun

lass (plural lasses)Category:English lemmas#LASSCategory:English nouns#LASSCategory:English countable nouns#LASSCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#LASSCategory:Pages with entries#LASSCategory:Pages with 6 entries#LASS (archaicCategory:English archaic terms#LASS except UKCategory:British English#LASS, dialectalCategory:English dialectal terms#LASS, informalCategory:English informal terms#LASS or poeticCategory:English poetic terms#LASS)

1. A girl; also (by extension), a young woman.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:girl, Thesaurus:woman

   Coordinate term: lad

   Come and dance, ye lads and lasses!Category:English terms with usage examples#LASS

   • 1521–1522, John Skelton, “Here after Followeth a Litel Boke Called Colyn Cloute, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page 327, lines 423–426:

     [T]heyr founders soules / Haue lost theyr beade rolles, / The mony for theyr masses / Spent amonge wanton lasses; […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 12, column 2:

     Ste[phano]. Is it ſo braue a Laſſe? / Cal[iban]. I [i.e., aye] Lord, ſhe vvill become thy bed, I vvarrant, / And bring thee forth braue brood.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 292, column 2:

     This is the prettieſt Lovv-borne Laſſe, that euer / Ran on the greene-ſord: […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1678, J[ohn] Ray, “An Alphabet of Joculatory, Nugatory and Rustick Proverbs”, in A Collection of English Proverbs […], 2nd edition, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] John Hayes, printer to the University, for W. Morden, →OCLC, pages 80–81:

     The laſs i' th' red petticoat ſhall pay for all. Young men anſvver ſo vvhen they are chid for being ſo prodigal and expenſive, meaning they vvill get a vvife vvith a good portion, that ſhall pay for it.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1722 (indicated as 1721), [Daniel Defoe], The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. […], London: […] W[illiam Rufus] Chetwood, […]; and T. Edling, […], published 1722, →OCLC, page 8:

     [P]ray vvhich is the little Laſs that intends to be a Gentlevvoman?

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1777 May 8 (first performance), [Richard Brinsley Sheridan], The School for Scandal; a Comedy; […], Dublin: [s.n.], published 1780, →OCLC, Act III, scene [ii], page 40:

     Let the toaſt paſs, drink to the laſs, / I vvarrant ſhe'll find an excuſe for the glaſs.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1799–1805 (date written), William Wordsworth, “Book VIII. Retrospect.—Love of Nature Leading to Love of Man.”, in The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet’s Mind; an Autobiographical Poem, London: Edward Moxon, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 208:

     But one there is, the loveliest of them all, / Some sweet lass of the valley, looking out / For gains, and who that sees her would not buy?

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • [1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume I (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, pages 309–310:

     [S]he was the bonniest lass in our parochine and the neest till't.

     Written in Scots.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Black Andie’s Tale of Tod Lapraik”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 172:

     He was fond of a lass and fond of a glass, and fond of a ran-dan; […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1952 February, H[enry] C[yril] Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 77:

     My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small group of Scottish school lasses, who seemed (perhaps naturally) to find the proceedings somewhat mysterious, but at any rate amusing. I wished they would go away, but they didn't, so I had to get on with the job to the accompaniment of a background of giggles!

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   1. (specifically) A female member of the Salvation Army; a hallelujah lass.
      • 1905, [George] Bernard Shaw, “Major Barbara”, in John Bull’s Other Island and Major Barbara: Also How He Lied to Her Husband, London: Archibald Constable & Co., published 1907, →OCLC, Act II, page 216:

        Jenny Hill, a pale, overwrought, pretty Salvation lass of 18, comes in through the yard gate, leading Peter Shirley, a half hardened, half worn-out elderly man, weak with hunger.

        A stage direction.

        Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

2. (especially GeordieCategory:Geordie#LASS, WearsideCategory:Wearside English#LASS) A sweetheart.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:sweetheart

   Coordinate term: lad

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, stanza 14, page 388:

     But firſt him ſeemed fit, that vvounded Knight / To viſite, after this nights perillous paſſe, / And to ſalute him, if he vvere in plight, / And eke [also] that Lady his faire louely laſſe.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 205, column 2:

     It vvas a Louer, and his laſſe, / VVith a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, / That o're the greene corne feild did paſſe, / In the ſpring time, the onely pretty rang [ring] time, / VVhen Birds do ſing, hey ding a ding, ding.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 106, lines 329–330 and 333–336:

     The youthfull Bull muſt vvander in the VVood; / Behind the Mountain, or beyond the Flood: / […] / VVith tvvo fair Eyes his Miſtreſs burns his Breaſt; / He looks, and languiſhes, and leaves his Reſt; / Forſakes his Food, and pining for the Laſs, / Is joyleſs of the Grove, and ſpurns the grovving graſs.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson;  […], →OCLC, page 3:

     There might ye ſee the pioney ſpread vvide, / The full-blovvn roſe, the ſhepherd and his laſs, / Lap-dog and lambkin vvith black ſtaring eyes, / And parrots vvith tvvin cherries in their beak.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1889, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “Leeby and Jamie”, in A Window in Thrums, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 166:

     The love Leeby bore for Jamie was such that in their younger days it shamed him. […] "Hoo is your lass?" they used to cry to him, inventing a new game.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

3. (Northern EnglandCategory:Northern England English#LASS, ScotlandCategory:Scottish English#LASS) A female servant; a maid, a maidservant.
   • 1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and Archibald Constable and Co., […], →OCLC, page 101:

     […] I'll tell ye that after we are done wi' our supper, for it will may be no be sae weel to speak about it while that lang-lugged limmer o' a lass is gaun flisking in and out o' the room.

     […] I'll tell you that after we are done with our supper, for it will maybe not be so well to speak about it while that long-eared rogue of a maidservant is going capering in and out of the room.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • [1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Letter XI. The Same [Darsie Latimer] to the Same [Alan Fairford].”, in Redgauntlet, […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 234:

     [S]ure aneugh, the lass washed clottered blood aff the carpet the neist day.

     Written in Scots.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • [1927 July, John Buchan, “The Black Wood by Day”, in Witch Wood, London: Hodder and Stoughton, published August 1927, →OCLC, page 90:

     She fleyed Johnnie awa' frae the door when he was for daffin' wi' the serving lasses.

     Written in Scots.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

4. (ScotlandCategory:Scottish English#LASS, familiarCategory:English familiar terms#LASS) A term of address for a woman, or a female animal.
   • [1794, Robert Burns, “A Red, Red Rose”, in Songs, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, volume IV, Kilmarnock, Scotland: […] James M‘Kie, published 1869, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 210:

     As fair art thou, my bonie laſs, / So deep in luve am I; / And I will luve thee ſtill, my Dear, / Till a' the ſeas gang dry.

     Written in Scots.]

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “A Pleasant Day, with an Unpleasant Termination”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 188:

     "Hi, Juno, lass—hi, old girl; down, Daph, down," said Wardle, caressing the dogs.

     Category:English terms with quotations#LASS

References

Further reading

• lass (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “Lass”, in Palgrave’s Word List: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎, archived from the original on 5 September 2024, from F[rancis] M[ilnes] T[emple] Palgrave, A List of Words and Phrases in Everyday Use by the Natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham […] (Publications of the English Dialect Society; 74), London: Published for the English Dialect Society by Henry Frowde, Oxford University Press, 1896, →OCLC.
• “lass”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Scott Dobson, Dick Irwin, “lass”, in Newcastle 1970s: Durham & Tyneside Dialect Group‎, archived from the original on 5 September 2024.
• Frank Graham, editor (1987), “LASS”, in The New Geordie Dictionary, Rothbury, Northumberland: Butler Publishing, →ISBN, page 31.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “lass”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “lass, n., v.”, in The Dictionary of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Scottish Language Dictionaries, 2004–present, →OCLC, reproduced from W[illiam] Grant and D[avid] D. Murison, editors, The Scottish National Dictionary, Edinburgh: Scottish National Dictionary Association, 1931–1976, →OCLC.
• Bill Griffiths, editor (2004), “lass”, in A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear: Northumbria University Press, →ISBN, page 96, column 1.

Anagrams

• ALSs, SALs, SLAs, SALS, SASL, sals, SLSA, sALS

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /las/Category:German 1-syllable words#LASSCategory:German terms with IPA pronunciation#LASS

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

  Category:German terms with audio pronunciation#LASS
• Rhymes: -asCategory:Rhymes:German/as#LASSCategory:Rhymes:German/as/1 syllable#LASS

Verb

lassCategory:German non-lemma forms#LASSCategory:German verb forms#LASSCategory:German entries with incorrect language header#LASSCategory:Pages with entries#LASSCategory:Pages with 6 entries#LASS

1. singular imperative of lassen
2. (colloquialCategory:German colloquialisms#LASS) first-person singular present of lassen

Further reading

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

Etymology

From Middle High GermanCategory:Luxembourgish terms inherited from Middle High German#LASSCategory:Luxembourgish terms derived from Middle High German#LASS los, from Old High GermanCategory:Luxembourgish terms inherited from Old High German#LASSCategory:Luxembourgish terms derived from Old High German#LASS *los, variant of lōs (“loose; free; lacking; sly, deceitful”). Compare for the short vowel Ripuarian Central Franconian loss, Dutch los. The uninflected stem of this adjective develops regularly into Luxembourgish lass, while the inflected stem yields the doublet lues (“slow, quiet”). See the English cognate loose for more.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɑs/Category:Luxembourgish 1-syllable words#LASSCategory:Luxembourgish terms with IPA pronunciation#LASS

  Rhymes: -ɑsCategory:Rhymes:Luxembourgish/ɑs#LASSCategory:Rhymes:Luxembourgish/ɑs/1 syllable#LASS

Adjective

lass (masculine lassen, neuter lasst, comparative méi lass, superlative am lassten)Category:Luxembourgish lemmas#LASSCategory:Luxembourgish adjectives#LASSCategory:Luxembourgish entries with incorrect language header#LASSCategory:Pages with entries#LASSCategory:Pages with 6 entries#LASS

1. loose, unattached

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlass/Category:Polish 1-syllable words#LASSCategory:Polish terms with IPA pronunciation#LASS
• Rhymes: -assCategory:Rhymes:Polish/ass#LASSCategory:Rhymes:Polish/ass/1 syllable#LASS
• Syllabification: lass

Noun

lass nCategory:Polish non-lemma forms#LASSCategory:Polish noun forms#LASSCategory:Polish entries with incorrect language header#LASSCategory:Pages with entries#LASSCategory:Pages with 6 entries#LASS

1. genitive plural of lasso

Etymology

Inherited from Old SwedishCategory:Swedish terms inherited from Old Swedish#LASSCategory:Swedish terms derived from Old Swedish#LASS las. Originally the past participle of a verb derived from Proto-GermanicCategory:Swedish terms derived from Proto-Germanic#LASS *hlaþaną (“to load”). Doublet of lada and lastCategory:Swedish doublets#LASS.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lasː/Category:Swedish terms with IPA pronunciation#LASS

• Audio:

  (file)

  Category:Swedish terms with audio pronunciation#LASS

Noun

lass nCategory:Swedish lemmas#LASSCategory:Swedish nouns#LASSCategory:Swedish entries with incorrect language header#LASSCategory:Swedish neuter nouns#LASSCategory:Pages with entries#LASSCategory:Pages with 6 entries#LASS

1. a load (amount transported at one time (on a cart, (open) trailer, or the like, or carried), also as an (informal) unit of measurement)

   ett lass ved

   a/one load of firewood

   Category:Swedish terms with usage examples#LASS

2. a load (large amount)

   glass i stora lass

   loads of ice cream [ice cream in big loads]

   Category:Swedish terms with usage examples#LASS

References

• “lass”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “lass”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “lass”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• lass in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)

Etymology 1

From Middle EnglishCategory:Yola terms inherited from Middle English#LASSCategory:Yola terms derived from Middle English#LASS los, from Old EnglishCategory:Yola terms inherited from Old English#LASSCategory:Yola terms derived from Old English#LASS los.

Etymology 2

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 52