different between offhand vs lax

English

Alternative forms

• off-hand

Etymology

From Middle English *ofhande, *ofhende, from Old English ofhende (“absent, lost”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *abahandijaz. Equivalent to off- +? hand. Cognate with Icelandic afhendur. Compare onhand.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??f?hænd/
• Rhymes: -ænd

Adjective

offhand (comparative more offhand, superlative most offhand)

1. Without planning or thinking ahead.

2. Careless; without sufficient thought or consideration.

3. Curt, abrupt, unfriendly.

Synonyms

• (without planning): impromptu, extemporaneous, off-the-cuff; see also Thesaurus:impromptu

Translations

See also

• off the top of one's head

Adverb

offhand (comparative more offhand, superlative most offhand)

1. Right away, immediately, without thinking about it.
   • Offhand, I'd guess that that's a yellow-bellied sapsucker.
   • 1854, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Rose and the Ring:

     We will have no more of this shilly-shallying! Call the Archbishop, and let the Prince and Princess be married offhand!

2. In an offhand (adjective) manner.

Anagrams

• hand off, hand-off, handoff

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /læks/
• Rhymes: -æks
• Homophone: lacks

Alternative forms

• lacks (Killian)

Etymology 1

From Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”), from Proto-West Germanic *lahs (“salmon”), from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (“salmon”), from Proto-Indo-European *la?s- (“salmon, trout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, lachs, lasche (“salmon”), Middle Low German las (“salmon”), German Lachs (“salmon”), Norwegian laks (“salmon”), Danish laks (“salmon”), Swedish lax (“salmon”), Icelandic lax (“salmon”), Lithuanian lašišà (“salmon”), Latvian lasis, Russian ??????? (losós?, “salmon”), Albanian leshterik (“eel-grass”). See also lox.

Noun

lax (plural laxes)

1. (now chiefly Britain dialectal, Scotland) A salmon.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin laxus (“wide, roomy, loose”).

Adjective

lax (comparative laxer, superlative laxest)

1. Lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.
   • 1886, John Addington Symonds, Philip Sidney

     Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.

2. Loose; not tight or taut.
3. Lacking care; neglectful, negligent.
4. (mathematics) Describing an associative monoidal functor.
5. (archaic) Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal.

Synonyms

• (lenient, not strict): permissive, lenient, relaxed
• (loose, not tight): loose, slack
• (lacking care): blameworthy, lash, negligent, remiss, reprehensible

Antonyms

• (lenient, not strict): strict
• (loose, not tight): taut, tight

Related terms

• laxity

Translations

Etymology 3

Noun

lax (uncountable)

1. (slang) Lacrosse.
   • 2010, Kate Kingsley, Pretty on the Outside (page 79)

     “I'm not playing lax this term,” Mimah said.

Anagrams

• Axl

Dacian

Noun

lax

1. The edible wild purslane plant.

German

Etymology

From Latin laxus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laks/
• Homophone: Lachs

Adjective

lax (comparative laxer, superlative am laxesten)

1. lax
2. (morale or ethics) easy, loose

Declension

Further reading

• “lax” in Duden online

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [laxs], [laks]

Noun

lax m (genitive singular lax, nominative plural laxar)

1. salmon

Declension

Derived terms

• laxbleikur:
• laxbleikur litur m

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *laks, from the same source as laci? (“entice”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /laks/, [??äks?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /laks/, [l?ks]

Noun

lax f (genitive lacis); third declension

1. deception, fraud

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

• fraus

Descendants

• Mozarabic:

  Arabic: ???????? (?a?i)

  Hebrew: ????????? (?a?i)

References

• lax in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• lax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Anagrams

• alx

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lex

Etymology

From Old English leax, from Proto-West Germanic *lahs, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laks/, /l?ks/

Noun

lax (plural lax or laxes)

1. salmon

Descendants

• English: lax
• Scots: lax

References

• “lax, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-23.

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *lahsaz. Cognate with Old English leax, German Lachs, English lox, Old High German lahs, Yiddish ??????? (laks?).

Noun

lax m (genitive lax, plural laxar)

1. (zoology) salmon

Declension

Derived terms

• Laxárdalr

Descendants

References

• lax in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz. The 1000kr meaning comes from the color of the 1000kr bill which was the same color as a salmon.

Pronunciation

Noun

lax c

1. salmon
2. (slang) a bill with nominal value 1000 kronor or the corresponding amount of money

   Synonyms: lakan, långschal, skäring, papp

Declension

Derived terms

• laxrosa