lad
Meaning
- A boy or young man.
- A hedonistic or irresponsible young man; A Jack the lad.
- A familiar term of address for a young man.
- A groom who works with horses.
- (colloquial) The penis.
Synonyms
young boy
young person
young people
male child
male youngster
young male
common rudd
dandiprat
swain
young fellow
Frequency
Pronounced as (IPA)
/læd/
Etymology
From Middle English ladde (“foot soldier, servant; male commoner; boy”), from late Old English *ladda (attested in Old English personal byname Ladda), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse ladd (“hose, woolen stocking; sock”), which may have undergone semantic shift to mean a term of abuse (e.g. foolish youth, youngster of lower social status, etc.); thence by connotative amelioration coming to mean any young fellow. Compare Norwegian ladd (“rough sock, woolen or felt slipper”) and the -ladd in compounds Askeladd/Askeladden (a nickname in fairy tales, "Ash Lad") and tusseladd (“nincompoop”). See also Swedish ladder (“old shoes”), lodde (“Frisian shoe”), lädder (“socks”), all said to be related to Old Norse loðinn (“hairy, shaggy, woolly”), loddi (“shaggy dog”).
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