lave

/leɪv/

//leɪv// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"lave" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lave” is uncommon English (frequency #72,484 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#72,484
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To bathe or wash (someone or something).

Corpus desk

Index EN-lave · lave · English

lave · rank #72,484 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #72,484
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Lautner

Nearest frequency peer: Lautner (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “lave”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “lave” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lave
PropertyValue
Headwordlave
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/leɪv/
Letters4
Frequency rank#72,484
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lave” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).lavefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Lautner” (#72,483), “Lamarck” (#72,480), “Legendre” (#72,488). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “lave” is #72,484. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lave is uncommon English at frequency #72,484 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /leɪv/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 10 senses are on record.

lave has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Middle English laven (“to bathe, wash; to bail or draw water, drain, exhaust; to dampen, wet; to pour; of water, etc.: to flow, stream”), and then partly: * from Old French laver (“to be washed; to wash”) (modern French laver (“to w… The correct English form is lave, spelled L-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To bathe or wash (someone or something).
  2. 2
    Of a river or other water body: to flow along or past (a place or thing); to wash.
  3. 3
    Followed by into, on, or upon: to pour (water or some other liquid) with or as if with a ladle into or on someone or something; to lade, to ladle.
  4. 4
    To remove (something), as if by washing away with water.
  5. 5
    To surround or gently touch (someone or something), as if with water.
  6. 6
    Chiefly in sexual contexts: to lick (someone or something).
  7. 7
    Followed by out or up: to draw or scoop (water) out of something with a bucket, scoop, etc.; specifically, to bail (water) out of a boat.
  8. 8
    To bathe or wash.
  9. 9
    To surround as if with water.
  10. 10
    Chiefly in sexual contexts; followed by at: to lick.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how lave appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. [M]y houſe vvithin the City / Is richly furniſhed vvith plate and gold, / Baſons and evvers to laue her dainty hands: […]
  2. [W]e muſt laue / Our Honors in theſe flattering ſtreames, / And make our Faces Vizards to our Hearts, / Diſguiſing vvhat they are.

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English laven (“to bathe, wash; to bail or draw water, drain, exhaust; to dampen, wet; to pour; of water, etc.: to flow, stream”), and then partly: * from Old French laver (“to be washed; to wash”) (modern French laver (“to wash (oneself)”)), from Latin lavāre, the present active infinitive of lavō (“to bathe, wash; to dampen, wet”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewh₃- (“to wash”); and * from Old English lafian (“to bathe; to make wet; to ladle out; to pour”), from Proto-West Germanic *labōn (“to refresh, revitalize; to strengthen”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Latin lavō (see above) but this does not explain the change in meaning from “to wash; to wet” to “to refresh; to strengthen”. Perhaps Old English lafian is derived directly from the Latin word, and Proto-West Germanic *labōn and words in languages derived from it such as Dutch and German are coincidentally similar to the Old English word. The noun is derived from the verb.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lave"?
"lave" is spelled L-A-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /leɪv/.
What does "lave" mean?
As a verb, "lave" means: To bathe or wash (someone or something).
How do you pronounce "lave"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lave" is /leɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "lave"?
The verb is derived from Middle English laven (“to bathe, wash; to bail or draw water, drain, exhaust; to dampen, wet; to pour; of water, etc.: to flow, stream”), and then partly: * from Old French laver (“to be washed; to wash”) (modern French la... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "lave", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Kyaw#72,479Luba#72,507Lunn#72,511Ipoh#72,433

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list