Lao
/laʊ/noun, adjective
Lao is spelled L-A-O: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Lao means “A Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Lao is Laos.
How many letters and syllables are in Lao?
| Letters | 3: L-A-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is Lao?
Lao appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce Lao?
- /laʊ/
- /ˈlɑːoʊ/
Lao has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Lao.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Lao
- Laos plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Lao mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia.
- 2
The official language of Laos that is closely related to Thai.
adjective
- 1
Of, from, or pertaining to Laos, the Lao people or their Kra-Dai Lao language.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lao in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | Laotien, Laotienne , laotien , lao |
| German | Laote, Laotin , Laotisch, Lao , laotisch |
| Portuguese | laosiano, laociano |
| Spanish | laosiano, laosiana, lao , de Laos |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does Lao come from?
Borrowed from Lao ລາວ (lāo).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).