lad

læd

3 definitions

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#1·1d ago

(British) A hedonistic or irresponsible young man; A Jack the lad.

The lad, his son, had obtained a Jew's-harp, and learned to play upon it the profane airs of "Yankee Doodle," "Hail Columbia," "St. Patrick's Day," and "Auld Lang Syne."

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#2·1d ago

A boy or young man.

How great is that danger, to which poor lads are now exposed, when placed on shipboard to learn the art of sailing! Five lads, training up for the seas, were now on board this ship;

Origin: From , from late (attested in Old English personal byname Ladda), probably of origin. Compare , which may have undergone semantic shift to mean a term of abuse (e.g. foolish youth, youngster of lower social status, etc.); thence by connotative amelioration coming to mean any young fellow. Compare and the -ladd in compounds Askeladd/Askeladden (a nickname in fairy tales, "Ash Lad") and tusseladd. See also , Frisian shoe, socks, all said to be related to , loddi. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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