# lava

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈlɑːvə/ · frequency rank #10,720

## Definitions
1. The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.
2. Magma.
3. A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.

## Etymology
From Italian, from Neapolitan and Sicilian lava (“lava; downpour overflowing the streets”), likely from Latin lābēs (“a fall; a collapse; subsidence”); compare lābīna (“landslide”). A supposed relation with lavare (“to wash”) is now widely discredited, nor is there probably any relation with Arabic لابة (lāba, “black volcanic rock”). Alternatively, the Romance words are connected with Provençal lavo, lauvo (“flat stone”), from a Vulgar Latin source borrowed from a Celtic language such as Gaulish *lawā, but ultimately of obscure origin; see Proto-Celtic *līwos for details.

## Easily confused with
- **LV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lv)
- **law** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-law)
- **lay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lay)
- **lea** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lea)
- **lax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lax)
- **Liv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-liv)
- **lev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lev)
- **luv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-luv)
- **loa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-loa)
- **Lua** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lua)
- **love** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-love)
- **live** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-live)
- **laws** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-laws)
- **Lisa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lisa)
- **lazy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lazy)
- **lawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lawn)
- **levy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-levy)
- **lays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lays)
- **Lena** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-lena)
- **luna** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/lava-vs-luna)

## Common misspellings (4)
`laav`, `lavva`, `llava`, `lvaa`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/lava