Dictionary

lass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

(Southern-England) audio
/læs/ (General-American, Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English las, lasce, lasse (“female infant or child; young woman”), traditionally derived from Old Norse lǫskr (“unmarried”, adjective); see Middle English las for more. Cognates Scots lass, lassie

Meanings

A girl; also (by extension), a young woman.
- He was fond of a lass and fond of a glass, and fond of a ran-dan; […] 1892, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Black Andie’s Tale of Tod Lapraik”, in Catriona, London; Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson & Sons, →OCLC, page 172:
- [S]he was the bonniest lass in our parochine and the neest till't. [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:
- [T]heyr founders soules / Haue lost theyr beade rolles, / The mony for theyr masses / Spent amonge wanton lasses; […] 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:
- Come and dance, ye lads and lasses!
- This is the prettieſt Lovv-borne Laſſe, that euer / Ran on the greene-ſord: […] 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:
- 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! 1952 February, H[enry] C[yril] Casserley, “Permanent Wayfarings”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 77:
- 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. 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:
- Let the toaſt paſs, drink to the laſs, / I vvarrant ſhe'll find an excuſe for the glaſs. 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:
- 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? 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:
- [P]ray vvhich is the little Laſs that intends to be a Gentlevvoman? 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:
- 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. 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:
(specifically) A girl; also (by extension), a young woman. ▸ A female member of the Salvation Army; a hallelujah lass.
- 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. 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:
(Geordie, Wearside, especially) A sweetheart.
- 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. 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:
- 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. 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:
- 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. 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 3:
- 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. 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:
- 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. 1889, J[ames] M[atthew] Barrie, “Leeby and Jamie”, in A Window in Thrums, London: Hodder and Stoughton, […], →OCLC, page 166:
(Northern-England, Scotland) A female servant; a maid, a maidservant.
- […] 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. 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:
- [S]ure aneugh, the lass washed clottered blood aff the carpet the neist day. [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:
- She fleyed Johnnie awa' frae the door when he was for daffin' wi' the serving lasses. [1927 July, John Buchan, “The Black Wood by Day”, in Witch Wood, London: Hodder and Stoughton, published August 1927, →OCLC, page 90:
(Scotland, familiar) A term of address for a woman, or a female animal.
- 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. [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:
- "Hi, Juno, lass—hi, old girl; down, Daph, down," said Wardle, caressing the dogs. 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:

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
lasses	Number=Plur		lexicographic

Translations (73)

bg девойка (girl — see also girl) · gd rìbhinn (young woman) · fi neiti (young woman) · pl dziewczyna (girl — see also girl) · sv flicka (young woman) · cy merch (girl — see also girl) · fr fille (young woman) · pt menina (girl — see also girl) · grc κοράσιον (girl — see also girl) · ru де́вочка (girl — see also girl) · br plac'h (girl — see also girl) · gd nighean (young woman) · hu leány (girl — see also girl) · ar صبية (girl — see also girl) · gd nighneag (girl — see also girl) · ko 아가씨 (girl — see also girl) · fr fillette (girl — see also girl) · ga cailín (girl — see also girl) · br merc'h (girl — see also girl) · pt rapariga (girl — see also girl) · ceb dalaga (girl — see also girl) · he בַּחוּרָה (young woman) · fr jeune femme (young woman) · he נַעֲרָה (young woman) · cs dívka (girl — see also girl) · he ילדה (girl — see also girl) · hu leányka (girl — see also girl) · ga gearrchaile (girl — see also girl) · ga maighdean (girl — see also girl) · he עַלְמָה (young woman) · oc joventa (girl — see also girl) · he בַּת (young woman) · pdt Mejal (girl — see also girl) · sv jänta (young woman) · tl nene (girl — see also girl) · sv jänta (girl — see also girl) · es muchacha (young woman) · fa لاکو (girl — see also girl) · sv flicka (girl — see also girl) · cy merch (young woman) · de Mädchen (girl — see also girl) · ru де́вушка (young woman) · sv tös (young woman) · fr nana (young woman) · mk моме (girl — see also girl) · es chica (young woman) · gd gruagach (young woman) · pt senhorita (girl — see also girl) · es señorita (young woman) · es niña (girl — see also girl) · fi tyttö (girl — see also girl) · mk девојче (girl — see also girl) · oc tosa (girl — see also girl) · pdt Mäakjen (girl — see also girl) · fr demoiselle (young woman) · cy rhiain (young woman) · es chiquita (young woman) · de Jungfrau (girl — see also girl) · tl neneng (girl — see also girl) · pl dziewczyna (young woman) · bg мома (girl — see also girl) · cs děvenka (girl — see also girl) · fr jeune fille (girl — see also girl) · da tøs (girl — see also girl) · cs děvče (girl — see also girl) · pl laska (term of address for a woman, or a female animal) · fi neiti (term of address for a woman, or a female animal) · cy geneth (girl — see also girl) · gd caileag (girl — see also girl) · eo junulino (girl — see also girl) · pt garota (girl — see also girl) · sv tös (girl — see also girl) · tl ining (girl — see also girl)

lass en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Meanings

Forms

Coordinates

Deriveds

Synonyms

Translations (73)