Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


La

La

(lä)
,
Noun.
(Mus.)
(a)
A syllable applied to the sixth tone of the scale in music in solmization.
(b)
The tone A; – so called among the French and Italians.

La

,
int
erj.
[Cf.
Lo
.]
1.
Look; see; behold; – sometimes followed by you.
[Obs.]
Shak.
2.
An exclamation of surprise; – commonly followed by me;
as,
La
me!
[Low]

Webster 1828 Edition


La

LA

, exclam. [perhaps corrupted from look, but this is doubtful.] Look; see; behold.

LA

, in music, the syllable by which Guido denotes the last sound of each hexachord.

Definition 2024


La

La

See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

Translingual

Symbol

La

  1. (chemistry) Symbol for lanthanum.

English

Abbreviation

La

  1. Alternative form of LA
  2. lane (in street addresses)

Anagrams


Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from , from Middle Chinese (la)

Pronunciation

Proper noun

La

  1. A surname.

la

la

See also: Appendix:Variations of "la"

English

Alternative form

Noun

la (plural las)

  1. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the sixth note of a major scale.
Translations
Coordinate terms

Interjection

la

  1. Represents the sound of music or singing.
    "La la la la, I can't hear you!" Jimmy said, sticking his fingers in his ears.
    I couldn't make out the words of the song, it was just a bunch of la la la as far as I could hear.

Etymology 2

From Middle English la, from Old English . More at lo.

Alternative forms

Interjection

la

  1. (obsolete) Used to introduce a statement with emphatic or intensive effect.
  2. (archaic) Expressing surprise, anger. etc.
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
      La, ma'am, what doth your la'ship think? the girl that your la'ship saw at church on Sunday, whom you thought so handsome; though you would not have thought her so handsome neither, if you had seen her nearer, but to be sure she hath been carried before the justice for being big with child.
    • 1811, Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility, vol. III ch. 2:
      “Oh, la! here come the Richardsons. I had a vast deal more to say to you, but I must not stay away from them any longer.”

Etymology 3

From French la, Italian la.

Adjective

la (not comparable)

  1. Prefixed to the name of a woman, with ironic effect (as though an opera prima donna).
    • 2007, Kate Carter, The Guardian, 22 Nov 2007:
      Following lukewarm on the heels of an article a few weeks ago, where (I paraphrase due to having filed the relevant copy in the recycling bin) Victoria Beckham made a "well-meaning" remark that the other Spice Girls might want to lose a few pounds, we now have a new incidence of La Beckham's scintillating and entirely well-meaning humour.
    • 2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, Atlantic 2011, page 232:
      By judicious leaking, he also managed to make la Kirkpatrick and her associates look rather unsavory.

Etymology 4

Possibly a shortened form of lad.

Noun

la (plural las)

  1. (Scouse) lad, lid

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: neither · suddenly · act · #481: la · further · line · added

Anagrams


Ama

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɭa/

Noun

la

  1. fish

Aromanian

Etymology

From Latin illac. Compare Romanian la.

Preposition

la

  1. at
  2. by

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f sg (masculine el, neuter lo, masculine plural los, feminine plural les)

  1. (definite) the

Usage notes

  • The article la contracts to l' before a word beginning with a or ha: l'asturiana (the Asturian), l'habitación (the habitation)

Pronoun

la

  1. her (third-person singular feminine direct pronoun)

Catalan

Etymology 1

From Old Provençal la, from Latin illa(m).

Article

la f (masculine el, masculine plural els, feminine plural les)

  1. the; feminine singular definite article

Pronoun

la (enclitic and proclitic, contracted proclitic l')

  1. her (direct object)
Declension

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (plural las)

  1. (music) la (sixth note of a diatonic scale)

Chickasaw

Pronoun

la

  1. I (first-person singular pronoun)

Dalmatian

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la

  1. the; feminine singular definite article

Related terms


Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /laː/

Noun

la f (plural la's, diminutive laatje n)

  1. drawer

Synonyms

Derived terms

Noun

la f (plural la's, diminutive laatje n)

  1. la (music)

Related terms

Anagrams


Emilian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la/
Mirandolese Emilian definite articles
singular plural
masculine al
'l
i
gl'
feminine la
l'
li
gl'

Etymology

From Latin illa(m), feminine form of ille.

Article

la f sg (plural al, el, li)

  1. the

Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowing from French la, Italian la, Spanish la.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la/
  • Hyphenation: la

Article

la

  1. the
    la libro the book
    la libroj the books

Alternative forms

  • l' (poetic)

Finnish

Etymology

From lauantai.

Abbreviation

la

  1. lauantai (Saturday)

French

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la/
  • Homophones: , las

Etymology 1

From Old French la, from Latin illam, which is the accusative singular feminine of ille.[1]

Article

la f sg

  1. The (definite article).

Pronoun

la

  1. (direct object) Her, it.
Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (plural la)

  1. (music) la, the note 'A'.

See also

References

  1. Dauzat, Albert; Jean Dubois, Henri Mitterand (1964), “le, la, les”, in Nouveau dictionnaire étymologique (in French), Paris: Librairie Larousse

Friulian

Friulian Definite Articles
singular plural
masculine il
l'
i
feminine  la
l'
lis

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f sg (plural lis)

  1. the

See also


Galician

Etymology 1

Pronoun

la f (accusative)

  1. Mutated form of a. (her)
Usage notes

The l- forms of accusative third-person pronouns are used when the preceding word ends in -r or -s, and is suffixed to the preceding word

Related terms

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (plural las)

  1. (music) la (sixth note of the scale)
  2. (music) A (the musical note or key)
See also

Etymology 3

Noun

la f (uncountable)

  1. wool

Haitian Creole

Etymology 1

From French l'art

Noun

la

  1. art

Etymology 2

Article

la

  1. the (definite article)
Usage notes

Use this article only after a word that ends with an oral (non-nasal) vowel and an oral consonant, in that order, and when it modifies a singular noun.

See also

Hungarian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈlɒ]

Interjection

la

  1. (archaic) used in dialects at the end of an exclamatory sentence as an emphasis
    ott van la! - there it is!
  2. a syllable used when singing a tune without lyrics

Ido

Etymology

Borrowing from Esperanto la, from French la, Italian la, Spanish la.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la/

Article

la (plural le)

  1. the

Etymology 2

Borrowing from English la, French la, Italian la, Spanish la, Portuguese , German A, Russian ля (lja).

Noun

la (plural le la or lai)

  1. (music) la

Interlingua

Pronoun

la

  1. (accusative) her
  2. (dative) to her

Istriot

Etymology

From Latin illa(m), feminine of ille.

Article

la f sg (masculine el)

  1. feminine singular definite article the
    • 1877, Antonio Ive, Canti popolari istriani: raccolti a Rovigno, volume 5, Ermanno Loescher, page 29:
      Ti son la manduleîna inzucherada.
      You are the sugared almond.

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la/
  • Rhymes: -a

Etymology 1

From Latin illa(m), feminine form of ille.[1]

Article

Italian Definite Articles
singular plural
masculine il
lo
i
gli
feminine  la le

la f sg (plural le)

  1. the
Usage notes
  • The article la elides with words that begin with a vowel, becoming l'.

Pronoun

la f sg (plural le)

  1. her (direct object)
  2. it (feminine)
    ...una improvvisa timidezza però la immobilizza... (Pasolini) - ...a sudden timidity immobilized her though...

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (invariable)

  1. (music) la (musical note)
  2. (music) A (musical note and scale)
Derived terms

References

  1. Patota, Giuseppe (2002) Lineamenti di grammatica storica dell'italiano (in Italian), Bologna: il Mulino, ISBN 88-15-08638-2, page 127

Anagrams


Kilivila

Verb

-la- [1]

  1. to leave, to go
    kula - thou goest
    kulosi - ye go
    bala - I will go

Idioms

  • kusisu, bala

See also

References

  1. Gunter Senft (1986), Kilivila: the Language of the Trobriand Islanders. Berlin • New York • Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 303. ISBN 3-11-010781-3

Ladin

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f (singular)

  1. the

See also

Usage notes
  • The article la elides with words that begin with a vowel, becoming l'.

Lojban

Cmavo

la

  1. Indicates that the following word is a cmene (proper noun).

Usage notes

  • The cmavo la can be used before an ordinary brivla, not just cmevla. So, for example, whereas "lo cribe" could be translated as "bear" or "a bear" and "le cribe" as "the bear", "la cribe" could be translated as "Bear". [1]
  • A sumti phrase begun with la can be ended (if necessary) with the elidable terminator ku.

Related terms

References

  1. LRG §6.2, example 2.6

Mandarin

Pronunciation

Romanization

la (Zhuyin ㄌㄚ˙)

  1. Pinyin transcription of
  2. Pinyin transcription of
  3. Pinyin transcription of
  4. Pinyin transcription of
  5. Pinyin transcription of
  6. Nonstandard spelling of .
  7. Nonstandard spelling of .
  8. Nonstandard spelling of .
  9. Nonstandard spelling of .

Usage notes

  • English transcriptions of Mandarin speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.

Michif

Etymology

From French la.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [la]

Article

la f (masculine li, masculine and feminine plural lii)

  1. the

Middle French

Etymology 1

From Old French la.

Article

la f (masculine le, masculine and feminine plural les)

  1. the
Descendants
  • French: la

Etymology 2

From Old French la.

Alternative forms

  • (circa 1550)

Adverb

la

  1. there
Descendants

Mirandese

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la f (plural las, masculine l, masculine plural ls)

  1. the

Neapolitan

Pronoun

la

  1. Alternative form of 'a

Norman

Etymology

From Old French la, from Latin illa(m).

Pronunciation

Article

la f (plural les)

  1. (Jersey) the (feminine singular definite article)

Coordinate terms


Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From the verb late

Verb

la (imperative la, present tense lar, simple past lot, past participle latt)

  1. to let
    La sovende hunder ligge. - Let sleeping dogs lie.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hlaða

Verb

la (imperative la, present tense lar, simple past ladde, past participle ladd)

  1. alternative form of lade

Etymology 3

Verb

la

  1. simple past of legge

References


Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Verb

la (present tense lèt or lar, past tense lét or let, past participle late or latt, imperative la)

  1. let
    La meg få gjera det.
    Let me do it.

Etymology 2

Verb

la

  1. past tense of leggja, leggje, legga and legge

Novial

Pronoun

la

  1. she; her

Related terms


Occitan

Etymology

From Old Provençal la, from Latin illa(m).

Article

la (masculine lo, feminine plural las, masculine plural los)

  1. the; feminine singular definite article

Old French

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la

  1. the (feminine singular oblique definite article)
  2. the (feminine singular nominative definite article)
    • circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
      Trop avons fet grant reposee,
      Recomançomes la meslee!
      We have rested too much
      Let's restart the battle! (literally, the mix)

Inflection

Pronoun

la

  1. it (feminine singular object pronoun)

Old Provençal

Etymology

From Latin illa(m).

Article

la (masculine lo)

  1. the; feminine singular definite article

Descendants

  • Catalan: la
  • Occitan: la

Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /lɐ/

Pronoun

la

  1. Alternative form of a (third-person feminine singular objective pronoun) used as an enclitic and mesoclitic following a verb form ending in a consonant (-z, -r and -s, but not -m); the consonant is elided and the preceding vowel takes an accent if necessary

Romanian

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /la/
  • Rhymes: -a

Etymology 1

From Latin illac.

Preposition

la (+accusative)

  1. at
  2. to, towards

Etymology 2

From Latin lavāre, present active infinitive of lavō.

Alternative forms

  • (Transylvania) lăia

Verb

a la (third-person singular present , past participle lăut) 1st conj.

  1. (popular, uncommon) to wash (especially the head)
Conjugation
Derived terms
  • lăutoare, lăutură
Synonyms
Related terms

Samoan

Noun

la

  1. sun

Santa Catarina Albarradas Zapotec

Noun

la

  1. name

References


Sicilian

Etymology

From Latin illa(m), from ille.

Article

la f sg (plural li)

  1. the

See also

Sicilian articles
Masculine Feminine
indefinite singular un, nu na
definite singular lu, û la, â
definite plural li, î li, î

Spanish

Etymology 1

From Old Spanish ela, from Latin illa(m), feminine singular of ille.

Article

la f sg (masculine el, feminine plural las, masculine plural los)

  1. the

Pronoun

la

  1. Accusative of ella, ello (when the antecedent's implied gender is feminine), and usted (when referring to a woman); her, it, you (formal)
  2. Impersonal neuter pronoun (accusative) in certain colloquial phrases: 'it', 'this'.
    La sabe toda.
    He/she knows everything (it all)
    ¡Dónde la viste!
    Where have you seen this!
    No te la creo.
    I don't believe you.
Usage notes
  • Sometimes used where English would prefer a possessive: "Tengo algo en la bolsa" (literally, I have something in the bag) as opposed to "Tengo algo en mi bolsa". (I have something in my bag).

See also

Etymology 2

Noun

la m (plural las)

  1. (music) la (sixth note of the scale)
  2. (music) A (the musical note or key)
See also

Swahili

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bantu. Compare Zulu -dla.

Verb

-la (infinitive kula)

  1. to eat
Conjugation

Etymology 2

From Arabic لَا ().

Interjection

la

  1. no

See also

  • siyo
  • hapana

Etymology 3

See -a.

Particle

la

  1. Ji class inflected form of -a.

Swedish

Alternative forms

Verb

la

  1. past tense of lägga.

Conjunction

la

  1. (regional, nonstandard) Alternative form of väl

Tsafiki

Pronoun

la

  1. I; the first-person singular masculine pronoun; the first-person singular pronoun used by adult men

Coordinate terms

  • čiʰké (first-person singular feminine pronoun, first-person singular pronoun used by adult women)
  • če (first-person singular pronoun used by children)
  • čiʰke-lá (first-person plural pronoun)

References

  • The Languages of the Andes (2004, Willem F. H. Adelaar, Pieter C. Muysken)

Vietnamese

Etymology

Sino-Vietnamese word from

Pronunciation

Noun

la

  1. mule

Verb

la

  1. to cry, to shout


Walloon

Etymology

From Latin illac.

Adverb

la

  1. there

Synonyms

Antonyms


Yatzachi Zapotec

Noun

la

  1. name

Zulu

Determiner

la

  1. these (class 6)

See also