lack

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /læk/ Homophone: lakh (one pronunciation) Rhymes: -æk === Etymology 1 === From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”), from Proto-Germanic *lakaz (“limp, slack, loose, low”), related to *lak(k)ōną (“to blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lak (“lack”), Middle Low German lack, lak (“lack”), Dutch lak (“lack, deficiency, calumny”), Icelandic lakur (“lacking”). Related also to Middle Dutch laken (“to blame, lack”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English carence (“absence, lack”), from Old French carence. ==== Noun ==== lack (countable and uncountable, plural lacks) A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want, dearth. Synonym: paucity Antonyms: glut, surplus, plethora (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From Middle English lacken, lakken, laken, from Old English læccian, *lacian (“to blame, criticise, lack”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak(k)ōn (“to blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Germanic *lak(k)ōną (“to reproach, blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Old Frisian lakia, lekia (“to contest, blame”), Middle Low German lacken, laken (“to reproach, blame, criticise”), Middle Dutch laken (“to disapprove, blame, lack”), Dutch laken (“to blame, reproach”). ==== Verb ==== lack (third-person singular simple present lacks, present participle lacking, simple past and past participle lacked) (transitive, stative) To be without, not to have, to need, to require. (intransitive) To be short (of or for something). (intransitive, obsolete) To be in want. (obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach. (African-American Vernacular) To be off one's guard. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Related terms ===== lackluster ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 3 === ==== Noun ==== lack (plural lacks) Archaic form of lakh. a lack of rupees === Further reading === Kroonen, Guus (2013), “lak(k)on-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 325 === See also === good lack === Anagrams === calk, kcal == German == === Pronunciation === === Verb === lack imperative singular of lacken (colloquial) first-person singular present of lacken == Swedish == === Etymology === From French lacre (“sealing wax”), from Portuguese laca. === Noun === lack n varnish, lacquer ==== Declension ==== ==== Derived terms ==== klarlack lacknafta lackskor nagellack ==== Related terms ==== lackera === Adjective === lack (comparative mer lack, superlative mest lack) (colloquial) angry === See also === lakk === References === “lack”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish) “lack”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish) “lack”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)