Word of the Day

: March 8, 2010

lave

verb LAYV

What It Means

1 a : wash, bathe

b : to flow along or against

2 : pour

lave in Context

"There are few traces of man's hand to be seen. The water laves the shore as it did a thousand years ago." (Henry David Thoreau, Walden)

Did You Know?

"Lave" is a simple, monosyllabic word that magically makes the mundane act of washing poetic. Shakespeare used it in The Taming of the Shrew, when Gremio assured the father of his beloved Bianca that she would have "basins and ewers to lave her dainty hands." And in Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop, Nell "laved her hands and face, and cooled her feet before setting forth to walk again." The poetry of "lave" is also heard when describing water washing against the shore, as in our example sentence, or even the pouring of water: "He … laved a few cool drops upon his brow" (John Lockhart, Reginald Dalton). Before washing our hands of "lave," we'll tell you its etymology: it, as well as "lavatory," comes from Latin "lavare," meaning "to wash."