lac

Reikšmė (Anglų k.)

(declension-3, neuter, singular) milk
(declension-3, neuter, singular) for something sweet, pleasant
(declension-3, neuter, singular) milky juice
(declension-3, neuter, poetic, singular) milk-white color

lacte

γάλα

lach

Dažnis

Tariamas kaip (IPA)

[ˈɫak]

From lact by simplification of a word-final sequence of two plosives (the variant nominative/accusative form lacte shows the addition of a vowel as an alternative). The etymology is controversial: there is no consensus on the cognate set, the manner of descent (inheritance vs. borrowing), or the form and ultimate origin of the etymon. Possible cognates include Ancient Greek γάλα, γᾰ́λᾰκτ-/γᾰ́λᾰκ- (gála, gắlăkt-/gắlăk-, “milk”), Old Armenian կաթն (katʻn, “milk”) (or perhaps only its variant form Old Armenian *կաղց (*kałcʻ), reconstructed as the ancestor of modern dialectal Armenian կախց (kaxcʻ)) Hittite 𒂵𒆷𒀝𒋻 (galaktar, “balm, resin”), Albanian dhallë (“buttermilk”), Romanian zară (“buttermilk”) and Waigali zōr (“milk”). More information Pokorny reconstructs the Latin and Greek words as inherited from Proto-Indo-European *glakt n from a root *glag- or *glak-. De Vaan derives the Latin, Greek and Armenian forms from Proto-Indo-European *gl̥gt-, and follows Meiser in explaining the loss of initial *g- in Latin as a result of long-distance dissimilation. Per Nielsen, the Latin and Greek words can be derived from *glakt-, Old Armenian *կաղց (*kałcʻ) can be derived from *g(a)l(ḱ)t- (requiring an initial non-palatal velar), and Albanian dhallë can perhaps be derived from *ǵal(K)- (requiring an initial palatal velar); on the basis of the variability in the initial consonant and the unusual root structure, Nielsen considers the root to be non-Indo-European in origin. There have been attempts to derive the word instead from the root *h₂melǵ- (“milk”). * Garnier, Sagart and Sagot 2017 cite Garnier 2016's reconstruction of a verb *ambĭ-blactāre (“to milk with both hands”) > *amblactāre, supposing this was subsequently reanalyzed as *amb-lactāre and lost the prefix to yield the attested verb lactāre. The noun lac(t) would then derive by back-formation from the verb lactāre. For another possible relation see dulcis.