lava

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) The molten rock ejected by a volcano from its crater or fissured sides; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.
2. (countable, informal, proscribed, uncountable) Magma.
3. (countable, uncountable) A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.

Synonyms

magma

pumice

geology

slag

volcanic rock

lapilli

calcium

latite

crater

Translations

lava

lave

Lava

lava

lava

lava

lava

λάβα

lav

lava-

püskürtü

lava

lava

Lave

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈlɑːvə/

Etymology

From Italian, from Neapolitan and Sicilian lava (“lava”, but also “downpour overflowing the streets”). Likely in the sense of “landslide, torrent” from Latin labes (“fall”), compare labina (“avalanche, landslide”). A supposed relation with lavare (“to wash”) is now widely discredited. Neither is there probably any relation with Arabic لابة (lāba, “black volcanic rock”). Alternatively the Romance words are connected with Provençal lavo, lauvo (“flat stone”), from a Vulgar Latin source borrowed from a Celtic language such as Gaulish *lawā, but ultimately of obscure origin; see Proto-Celtic *līwos for details.