Wiktionary

lax

See also: LAX and Lax

English

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WOTD – 6 May 2009

Pronunciation

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Alternative forms

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Etymology 1

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From Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”), from Proto-West Germanic *lahs (“salmon”), from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (“salmon”), from Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- (“salmon, trout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, lachs, lasche (“salmon”), Middle Low German las (“salmon”), German Lachs (“salmon”), Norwegian laks (“salmon”), Danish laks (“salmon”), Swedish lax (“salmon”), Icelandic lax (“salmon”), Lithuanian lašišà (“salmon”), Latvian lasis, Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ, “salmon”), Albanian leshterik (“eel-grass”). Doublet of lox.

Noun

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lax (plural laxes)

  1. (now chiefly UK dialectal, Scotland) A salmon.
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Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Latin laxus (“wide, roomy, loose”).

Adjective

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lax (comparative laxer, superlative laxest)

  1. Lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.
    The rules are fairly lax, but you have to know which ones you can bend.
    • 1886, John Addington Symonds, Philip Sidney:
      Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.
  2. Loose; not tight or taut.
    The rope fell lax.
    • 1701, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation, […], 3rd edition, London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin] Walford, […], →OCLC, part II, page 355:
      The Fleſh of this ſort of [cartilaginous] Fiſh being lax and ſpungy, and nothing ſo firm, ſolid and weighty as that of the bony Fiſhes, and there being a good quantity of Air contained in the Cavity of their Abdomen, they cannot ſink in the Water without letting in ſome of it by theſe Holes (the Orifices whereof are opened and ſhut at pleaſure by the help of Muſcles provided for that purpoſe) into the hollow of their Bellies, whereby they preponderate the Water and deſcend; […]
    • 1979, “Genetical Studies on Dense and Lax Panicles In Rice”, in Japan. J. Breed., volume 29, number 2, page 151:
      Sreedharan and Mirsa (1973) reported that two lax panicle mutants, designated as nude panicle mutation, were obtained from the M2 of two rice cultivars.
  3. Lacking care; neglectful, negligent.
    • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 – 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎[1]:
      Prior to this match, Albion had only scored three league goals all season, but Wes Brown's lax marking allowed Morrison to head in their fourth from a Chris Brunt free-kick and then, a minute later, the initial squandering of possession and Michael Turner's lack of pace let Long run through to slot in another.
  4. (mathematics) Describing an associative monoidal functor.
  5. (archaic) Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal.
  6. (linguistics) (of a vowel) Produced with relatively little constriction of the vocal tract.
    Antonym: tense
Synonyms
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Antonyms
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  • (antonym(s) of “lenient, not strict”): strict
  • (antonym(s) of “loose, not tight”): taut, tight
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 3

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By replacement of the syllable crosse with the cross-shaped letter x.

Noun

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lax (uncountable)

  1. (slang) lacrosse.
    • 2010, Kate Kingsley, Pretty on the Outside, page 79:
      “I'm not playing lax this term,” Mimah said.
Derived terms
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See also

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Anagrams

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Azerbaijani

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Classical Persian لق.

Adjective

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lax (comparative daha lax, superlative ən lax)

  1. shaky, unsteady, rickety, wobbly
  2. loose, spacious, loose-fitting
  3. rotten (of eggs)
    lax yumurta ― rotten egg
  4. (Baku, Salyan) untruthful
  5. (Gadabay, Nakhchivan, Ordubad) meaningless

Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • “lax” in Obastan.com.

Catalan

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Etymology

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Learned borrowing from Latin laxus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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lax (feminine laxa, masculine plural laxos, feminine plural laxes)

  1. loose, lax, slack
    Synonym: fluix
    Antonym: tens
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Further reading

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Dacian

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Noun

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lax

  1. The edible wild purslane plant.

German

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin laxus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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lax (strong nominative masculine singular laxer, comparative laxer, superlative am laxesten)

  1. lax
  2. (morale or ethics) easy, loose

Declension

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Positive forms of lax
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist lax sie ist lax es ist lax sie sind lax
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative laxer laxe laxes laxe
genitive laxen laxer laxen laxer
dative laxem laxer laxem laxen
accusative laxen laxe laxes laxe
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der laxe die laxe das laxe die laxen
genitive des laxen der laxen des laxen der laxen
dative dem laxen der laxen dem laxen den laxen
accusative den laxen die laxe das laxe die laxen
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein laxer eine laxe ein laxes (keine) laxen
genitive eines laxen einer laxen eines laxen (keiner) laxen
dative einem laxen einer laxen einem laxen (keinen) laxen
accusative einen laxen eine laxe ein laxes (keine) laxen
Comparative forms of lax
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist laxer sie ist laxer es ist laxer sie sind laxer
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative laxerer laxere laxeres laxere
genitive laxeren laxerer laxeren laxerer
dative laxerem laxerer laxerem laxeren
accusative laxeren laxere laxeres laxere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der laxere die laxere das laxere die laxeren
genitive des laxeren der laxeren des laxeren der laxeren
dative dem laxeren der laxeren dem laxeren den laxeren
accusative den laxeren die laxere das laxere die laxeren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein laxerer eine laxere ein laxeres (keine) laxeren
genitive eines laxeren einer laxeren eines laxeren (keiner) laxeren
dative einem laxeren einer laxeren einem laxeren (keinen) laxeren
accusative einen laxeren eine laxere ein laxeres (keine) laxeren
Superlative forms of lax
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist am laxesten sie ist am laxesten es ist am laxesten sie sind am laxesten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative laxester laxeste laxestes laxeste
genitive laxesten laxester laxesten laxester
dative laxestem laxester laxestem laxesten
accusative laxesten laxeste laxestes laxeste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der laxeste die laxeste das laxeste die laxesten
genitive des laxesten der laxesten des laxesten der laxesten
dative dem laxesten der laxesten dem laxesten den laxesten
accusative den laxesten die laxeste das laxeste die laxesten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein laxester eine laxeste ein laxestes (keine) laxesten
genitive eines laxesten einer laxesten eines laxesten (keiner) laxesten
dative einem laxesten einer laxesten einem laxesten (keinen) laxesten
accusative einen laxesten eine laxeste ein laxestes (keine) laxesten

Further reading

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

Icelandic

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Etymology

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From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lax m (genitive singular lax, nominative plural laxar)

  1. salmon

Declension

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Declension of lax (masculine)
singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative lax laxinn laxar laxarnir
accusative lax laxinn laxa laxana
dative laxi laxinum löxum löxunum
genitive lax laxins laxa laxanna

Derived terms

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Latin

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Etymology

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From Proto-Italic *laks, from the same source as laciō (“entice”).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lax f (genitive lacis); third declension

  1. deception, fraud

Declension

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Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative lax lacēs
genitive lacis lacum
dative lacī lacibus
accusative lacem lacēs
ablative lace lacibus
vocative lax lacēs

Synonyms

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References

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  1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “laciō”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 321
  • “lax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • lax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Anagrams

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Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Old English leax, from Proto-West Germanic *lahs, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lax (plural lax or laxes)

  1. salmon

Descendants

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  • English: lax
  • Scots: lax

References

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Old Norse

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Etymology

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From Proto-Germanic *lahsaz. Cognate with Old English leax, German Lachs, English lox, Old High German lahs, Yiddish לאַקס (laks).

Noun

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lax m (genitive lax, plural laxar)

  1. (zoology) salmon

Declension

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  Declension of lax (strong a-stem)
masculine singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative lax laxinn laxar laxarnir
accusative lax laxinn laxa laxana
dative laxi laxinum lǫxum lǫxunum
genitive lax laxins laxa laxanna

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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  • “lax”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Swedish

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Etymology

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From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Noun

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lax m

  1. (zoology) salmon

Declension

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Declension of lax (strong a-stem)
masculine singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative lax laxin laxar laxanir, laxaner
accusative lax laxin laxa laxana
dative laxi, laxe laxinum, laxenom laxum, laxom laxumin, laxomen
genitive lax laxins laxa laxanna

Descendants

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin laxus.

Adjective

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lax m or n (feminine singular laxă, masculine plural lacși, feminine and neuter plural laxe)

  1. lax

Declension

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singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative-
accusative 		indefinite lax laxă lacși laxe
definite laxul laxa lacșii laxele
genitive-
dative 		indefinite lax laxe lacși laxe
definite laxului laxei lacșilor laxelor

Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv
 
lax
 
en laxfilé [a salmon fillet]
 
a salmon pink 1000 SEK banknote from 1894

Etymology

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From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

The 1000 SEK sense probably refers to the salmon color of old 1000 SEK banknotes. Compare the similarly themed older slang skäring, from skär (“pink”); räka (“prawn”); tegel (“brick”); and röding (“char”), from röd (“red”); all referring to the red-pinkish color of old 1000 SEK banknotes. Color and animal-related nicknames for banknotes used to be quite common. Other examples include grönsiska (“siskin; 6 riksdaler 32 skillingar”), kanariefågel (“canary bird; 32 skillingar”), and fågel blå (“blue bird; 500 riksdaler”).

Another possibility is a Romani origin, then derived from Hindi लाख (lākh, “100,000”), from Sanskrit लक्ष (lakṣa), but such a Romani word has not been attested. Cf. lakan with the same meaning.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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lax c

  1. salmon (fish)
    laxar som simmar uppströms
    salmon swimming upstream
    odla lax
    farm salmon
  2. salmon (meat)
    Citronpeppar är gott till lax
    Lemon pepper is good on salmon
  3. (slang) A thousand of some unit of currency, typically SEK.
    Synonyms: lakan, långschal, skäring, papp, lök

Declension

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Declension of lax
nominative genitive
singular indefinite lax lax
definite laxen laxens
plural indefinite laxar laxars
definite laxarna laxarnas

Derived terms

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References

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  • lax in Svensk ordbok (SO)
  • lax in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
  • lax in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
  • Monica Golabiewski Lannby (2009 December 3) “Sedlarna som satte färg på språket”, in Språktidningen‎[2], retrieved 2021-11-26
  • Monica Golabiewski Lannby (2009) “’LAXAR’ – de skära tusenlapparna”, in Svensk numismatisk tidskrift‎[3], number 8, Svenska numismatiska föreningen
  • Gerd Carling (2005) “lax”, in Romani i svenskan: Storstadsslang och standardspråk, Stockholm: Carlsson, →ISBN, page 89
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