# lave

> English word · Verb · IPA /leɪv/ · frequency rank #72,484

## Definitions
1. To bathe or wash (someone or something).
2. Of a river or other water body: to flow along or past (a place or thing); to wash.
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. To remove (something), as if by washing away with water.
5. To surround or gently touch (someone or something), as if with water.
6. Chiefly in sexual contexts: to lick (someone or something).
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. To bathe or wash.
9. To surround as if with water.
10. Chiefly in sexual contexts; followed by at: to lick.

## 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.

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