Wordwyrt

lava

/ˈlɒvə/LO-vuh
/ˈlɑvə/LAH-vuh

Meaningto wash

Common meaning: molten rock from a volcano

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√LU‘wash, cleanse, expiate’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 326, p. 741 · scan
  2. Italianlavare‘to wash’source
  3. Italianmeaning shiftsto wash → a stream after rainlava‘a stream after rain’source
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsa stream after rain → molten rock from a volcanolava‘molten rock from a volcano’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Italian lavare ‘to wash’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry LAVA, p. 324 · dictionary scan

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app