laak

See also: Laak and låk

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laːk/
• Hyphenation: laak
• Homophone: Laak
• Rhymes: -aːk

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lake, from Old Dutch *laka, from Proto-West Germanic *laku, from Proto-Germanic *lakō (“drain, ditch, stream, pool”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- (“to leak, drain”).

Noun

laak f (plural laken, diminutive laakje n)

1. (obsolete) pond, pool, lake
2. watercourse, stream
3. a drainage ditch
4. border, limit; frontier
5. marshland

Derived terms

• Lexmond

Further reading

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “laak1”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
• Matthias de Vries, Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864) “laakI”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch lāke, lieke, leke (“blood sucking worm”), from a root shared with Proto-Germanic *lēkijaz. Cognate with English leech.

Noun

laak f (plural laken)

1. (dated) leech

   Synonym: bloedzuiger

Further reading

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “laak2”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
• Matthias de Vries, Lambert Allard te Winkel (1864) “laakII”, in Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal, published 2001

Etymology 3

Verb

laak

1. inflection of laken:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Anagrams

• kaal

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

laak (neuter laakt, definite singular and plural laake)

1. obsolete typography of låk