different between lad vs les

English

Etymology

From Middle English ladde (“foot soldier, servant; male commoner; boy”), probably of North Germanic origin, possibly from Old Norse ladd (“hose, woolen stocking; sock”), undergoing semantic shift to mean a foolish youth, youngster of lower social status; thence by connotative amelioration coming to mean any young fellow.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /læd/
• (unstressed, sometimes) (rare) IPA^(key): /l?d/
• Rhymes: -æd

Noun

lad (plural lads)

1. (Britain) A boy or young man.

   Coordinate term: lass
2. (Britain) A Jack the lad; a boyo.

   Coordinate term: ladette

3. A familiar term of address for a young man.

4. A groom who works with horses (also called stable-lad).

   Synonym: stable boy

5. (Ireland, colloquial) The penis.

Usage notes

Prevalent in Northern English dialects such as Geordie, Mackem, Scouse and Northumbrian.

Derived terms

• ladhood
• signal lad

Related terms

Translations

References

• Frank Graham (1987) The New Geordie Dictionary, ?ISBN
• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN
• Northumberland Words, English Dialect Society, R. Oliver Heslop, 1893–4
• Newcastle 1970s, Scott Dobson and Dick Irwin, [1]
• A List of words and phrases in everyday use by the natives of Hetton-le-Hole in the County of Durham, F.M.T.Palgrave, English Dialect Society vol.74, 1896, [2]
• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN

Further reading

• lad at The Septic's Companion: A British Slang Dictionary
• lad in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “lad”, in Online Etymology Dictionary

Anagrams

• ADL, DAL, DLA, Dal, LDA, dal

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?lat]

Noun

lad

1. genitive plural of lado

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse hlað (“heap, stack”)

Adjective

lad

1. languid, lazy, indolent

Inflection

Noun

lad n (singular definite ladet, plural indefinite lad)

1. bed (platform of a truck, trailer, railcar, or other vehicle that supports the load to be hauled), eg. truckbed

Inflection

Verb

lad

1. imperative of lade

German

Verb

lad

1. singular imperative of laden

Middle English

Noun

lad

1. Alternative form of ladde

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

lad

1. imperative of lade

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l??d/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *laid?. Cognate with Old High German leita (German Leite), Old Norse leið. Akin to l?þan (“to go, travel, fare”).

Noun

l?d f

1. way, course
2. passage, watercourse, lode
3. carrying, bringing, leading

4. provision, sustenance

Declension

Descendants

• English: load; lode

Etymology 2

Akin to Old Frisian l?de, l?de.

Noun

l?d f

1. excuse
2. exoneration, exculpation

Declension

Derived terms

• l?dian
• werl?d

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lat/

Noun

lad f

1. genitive plural of lada

Romansch

Alternative forms

• (Sutsilvan) lo

Etymology

From Latin l?tus.

Adjective

lad m (feminine singular lada, masculine plural lads, feminine plural ladas)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) wide, broad

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) lartg
• (Puter, Vallader) larg

Scots

Alternative forms

• laddie - most common usage

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *laid?. Cognate with Old High German leita (German Leite), Old Norse leið. Akin to l?þan (“to go, travel, fare”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lad/, /l?d/

Noun

lad (plural lads)

1. lad
2. son
3. menial
4. male sweetheart

Volapük

Noun

lad (nominative plural lads)

1. heart

Declension

Derived terms

• ladik

English

Alternative forms

• lez

Pronunciation

• (UK, US), IPA^(key): /l?z/
• Rhymes: -?z

Noun

les (plural leses)

1. (slang, colloquial) Clipping of lesbian.

Adjective

les (comparative more les, superlative most les)

1. (slang, colloquial) Clipping of lesbian.

Anagrams

• ELs, ESL, LSE, SLE, els

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch les (“lesson”), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin l?cti?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?s/

Noun

les (plural lesse, diminutive lesje)

1. lesson

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin ille (“that one”).

Pronoun

les

1. them (indirect object)

Synonyms

• lis

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin illas.

Article

les f pl (masculine sg el, feminine sg la, neuter sg lo, masculine plural los)

1. (definite) the

Catalan

Etymology 1

From Latin ill?s, from ille.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central) IPA^(key): /l?s/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /les/
• Rhymes: -es

Article

les f pl (masculine plural els, masculine singular el, feminine singular la)

1. the; feminine plural definite article

Pronoun

les (enclitic and proclitic)

1. them (feminine, direct object)

Declension

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin laesus.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?l?s/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?l?s/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /?les/

Adjective

les (feminine lesa, masculine plural lesos, feminine plural leses)

1. (law) harmed

Derived terms

• crim de lesa humanitat

Related terms

• il·lès

Further reading

• “les” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech

Etymology

From Old Czech les, from Proto-Slavic *l?s?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l?s]
• Hyphenation: les
• Rhymes: -?s
• Homophone: lez

Noun

les m inan

1. forest

Declension

Synonyms

• hvozd

Related terms

• lesní
• lesník
• jak se do lesa volá, tak se z lesa ozývá

Further reading

• les in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• les in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Noun

les c

1. indefinite genitive singular of le

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?s/
• Rhymes: -?s

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin l?cti?.

Noun

les f (plural lessen, diminutive lesje n)

1. course, lesson

Derived terms

• gymles
• gymnastiekles
• lesgeven
• lesplan
• lesrooster
• lessen
• paardrijles
• rijles
• zangles
• zwemles

Descendants

• Afrikaans: les
• ? Indonesian: les

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

les

1. first-person singular present indicative of lessen
2. imperative of lessen

Anagrams

• els

French

Etymology

From Middle French les, from Old French les, from Latin ill?s m and ill?s f which are the accusative plurals of ille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le/
• Homophones: lé, lés

Article

les

1. plural of le: the
2. plural of la: the

Usage notes

• de les is never used: contracted into des.
• à les is never used: contracted into aux.

Pronoun

les ?

1. plural of le: them
2. plural of la: them

Related terms

References

Further reading

• “les” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• sel

Galician

Verb

les

1. second-person singular present indicative of ler

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le?s/

Verb

les

1. (colloquial) first-person singular present of lesen
2. (colloquial) singular imperative of lesen

Hungarian

Etymology

From Proto-Ugric *lä?? (“hiding place; lurk”). Cognates include Southern Mansi [script needed] (l?š-), Northern Mansi [script needed] (l??-).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l??]
• Rhymes: -??

Noun

les (plural lesek)

2. cover, hideaway, ambush (the place where one is concealed, in wait to attack by surprise, or the act of concealing oneself there)

   Synonyms: lesállás, leshely

   Hypernyms: búvóhely, rejtekhely, (hiding place in general) rejtek

3. (hunting) hide, blind
4. (soccer) offside

   Synonyms: lesállás, leshelyzet

Declension

Verb

les

2. (transitive) to spy, peep, peek
3. (transitive) to stare, goggle, eye
4. (transitive) to cheat at a test by looking at someone else's work

Conjugation

Derived terms

(With verbal prefixes):

References

Further reading

• (ambush): les in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN
• (to spy): les in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh: A magyar nyelv értelmez? szótára (’The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: ?ISBN

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l??s/
• Rhymes: -??s

Noun

les n (genitive singular less, nominative plural les)

1. (linguistics) lexeme (set of inflected forms taken by a single word)
2. (computing) lexeme (individual instance of a continuous character sequence without spaces, used in lexical analysis)

Declension

Synonyms

• (lexeme): flettiorð

Derived terms

• lesgreining
• lesgreinir

See also

• tóki

Verb

les

1. first-person singular of lesa (“to read”)

   Ég les mikið af þýskum bókum.

   I read a lot of German books.

2. third-person singular of lesa (“to read”)

   Pálmi les alltaf sömu söguna, þótt hann eigi margar bækur.

   Pálmi always reads the same story, even though he has many books.

Indonesian

Etymology 1

From Dutch les (“course, lesson”), from Middle Dutch lesse, from Latin l?cti?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l?s]
• Hyphenation: lès

Noun

lès (first-person possessive lesku, second-person possessive lesmu, third-person possessive lesnya)

1. (education, colloquial) cram school, private tuition.

Verb

lès

1. (education, colloquial) to cram, to study hard, to learn at cram school.

Etymology 2

From Dutch lis (“reed”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?l?s]
• Hyphenation: lès

Noun

lès (first-person possessive lesku, second-person possessive lesmu, third-person possessive lesnya)

1. rein.

Further reading

• “les” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI) Daring, Jakarta: Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia, 2016.

Interlingua

Pronoun

les

1. (dative) to them

Usage notes

• Precedes conjugated verbs.
• Can be of mixed gender (not just masculine).

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin illas.

Article

les f (plural)

1. the

See also

• l
• la, l'
• i

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lese, lees, leas, leasse

Etymology

From Old English l?as (“false, void, loose”).

Cognate with Middle High German l?s (“loose”), Old Swedish lø?s (“loose”); a doublet of loos.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l??s/

Adjective

les

1. false; lying; deceptive

Noun

les (uncountable)

1. falsehood; a lie

Middle French

Etymology

from Old French les, from Latin ill?s m and ill?s f

Article

les m pl or f pl (masculine singular le, feminine singular la)

1. the

Descendants

• French: les

Norman

Pronunciation

Article

les pl (singular lé, and la)

1. Alternative form of l's

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

les

1. imperative of lese

Norwegian Nynorsk

Verb

les

1. present tense of lesa
2. imperative of lesa

Old Czech

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *l?s?.

Noun

les m

1. forest

   Synonym: hvozd

Declension

Descendants

• Czech: les

Further reading

• “les”, in Vokabulá? webový: webové hnízdo pramen? k poznání historické ?eštiny [online]?^[2], Praha: Ústav pro jazyk ?eský AV ?R, 2006–2020

Old French

Etymology

From Latin illas and illos.

Article

les

1. the (feminine plural oblique definite article)
2. the (feminine plural nominative definite article)
3. the (masculine plural oblique definite article)

Inflection

Descendants

• Middle French: les
  • French: les

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?es?/

Pronoun

les

1. third-person singular masculine of la

Rohingya

Etymology

From Bengali.

Noun

les

1. tail

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lê?s/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Slavic *l?s? (“tree, forest”).

Alternative forms

• (Ijekavian) lij?s

Noun

l?s m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. coffin
2. (regionally) lumber
3. (regionally) forest, woods

Declension

Etymology 2

From German Löss.

Noun

l?s m (Cyrillic spelling ????)

1. (geology) loess

Slovak

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *l?s?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?s/

Noun

les m (genitive singular lesa, nominative plural lesy, genitive plural lesov, declension pattern of dub)

1. forest

Declension

Further reading

• les in Slovak dictionaries at slovnik.juls.savba.sk

Slovene

Etymology

From Proto-Slavic *l?s?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lé?s/

Noun

l??s m inan

1. wood

Inflection

Further reading

• “les”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?les/, [?les]

Etymology 1

From Latin ill?s, dative plural of ille.

Pronoun

les

1. dative of ellos and ellas; to them, for them
2. dative of ustedes; to you all, for you all (formal)

See also

Etymology 2

Gender-neutral e replaces the gendered endings/elements a and o.

Article

les m pl or f pl

1. (gender-neutral, neologism) the

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English lazy.

Adjective

les

1. lazy
2. tired, fed up

Verb

les

1. be lazy
2.  be tired, be fed up

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /le?s/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English lace.

Noun

les f (plural lesau, not mutable)

1. lace (light fabric patterned with holes)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English lease.

Noun

les f (plural lesoedd, not mutable)

1. lease

Derived terms

• lesddeiliad (“leaseholder”)

Further reading

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present) , “les”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies