lake

Meaning

1. A large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid.
2. A large amount of liquid; as, a wine lake.
3. A small stream of running water; a channel for water; a drain.
4. (obsolete) A pit, or ditch.

pond

lago

small lake

basin

lacus

well

open water

i arge stretch of water

metal binding at ends of spear shaft

pool of water

deep pool

water-hole

large pond

water basin

large sheet of water

inland lake

flooded area

large lake

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/leɪk/

Arose from a conflation of the form of inherited Middle English lake (“small stream of running water, pool, lake”) with Middle English lac (“lake”), from Old French lac (“lake”) or Latin lacus (“lake, basin, tank”), see lac. The former, lake (“stream, pool, lake”), is inherited from Old English lacu (“stream, pool, expanse of water, lake”), from Proto-West Germanic *laku, from Proto-Germanic *lakō (“stream, pool, water aggregation”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to leak, drain”). It is related to Dutch laak (“stream, drainage ditch, pond”), German Low German Lake, Laak (“drainage, marshland”), German Lache (“puddle”), Icelandic lækur (“stream”). Despite their similarity in form and meaning, Old English lacu is not related to English lay (“lake”), Latin lacus (“hollow, lake, pond”), Scottish Gaelic loch (“lake”), Ancient Greek λάκκος (lákkos, “waterhole, tank, pond, pit”), all from Proto-Indo-European *lókus, *l̥kwés (“lake, pool”).