▪ I. lave, n.1 Obs. exc. Sc.
(leɪv)
Forms: 1 láf, 2 (to) lafon, 3 loave, 3–5 law(e, 4 laf(e, laffe, 4–7 laif, laiff(e, layfe, -ff, 6 le(a)ve, 7 laiv, 4– lave.
[OE. láf = OFris. láva, OLG. léva, OHG. leiba, ON. leif, Goth. laiba:—OTeut. *laiƀâ str. fem.; for the further etymology see leave v.]
What is left, is over, or remains; the remainder, the rest. a. of persons. (In OE. the word had also the sense ‘relict, widow’.)
| a 1000 O.E. Chron. an. 867 (Parker MS.), Sio laf wiþ þone here friþ nam. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Andreas 987 Syne þe lawe ine þar degre War to met set. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 306 The lave sone wnarmyt war. c 1450 Holland Howlat 446 With lordis of Scotland, lerit, and the laif. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 175 All weildand God, resawe My petows spreit..amange the law! 1513 Douglas æneis v. ii. 67 Quham followis all the laif in lyke maneir. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxix. 228 As for the leue, thair wes bot lytill leid. 1664 Flodden F. i. 9 Of doughty Knights the lusty lave I never could by name repeat. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. i, My Peggy speaks sae sweetly, To a' the lave I'm cauld. 1786 Har'st Rig 45 Auld Rodney..didna loiter like the lave. 1816 Scott Antiq. xlv, ‘Auld Mucklebackit's gane wi' the lave.’ 1881 L. B. Walford Dick Netherby v. 57 ‘Gif her ain fayther has his fling at my puir bairn, it's like the lave will follow.’ |
b. of things.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 111 Hwæt biþ la elles seo laf buton wyrma mete. a 1225 Ancr. R. 168 Nis þis large relef? Nis þis muchel loaue? a 1300 Cursor M. 7116 His wijf fader and moder he gaue O þis hony at ete þe laue. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Paulus 351 Paulis hed, þat þar wes hyd A-mange þe lafe, a hyrd has tane. 1427 Sc. Acts Jas. I (1814) II. 15/1 Þe quhilkis commissaris sal haf ful ande playn power of al þe laif of þe schirefdome. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1306 Half his brede his horse he gaue, And kepid to him self þe laue. 1530 Lyndesay Test. Papyngo 825 Androw and Ihone did leif thare possessioun, Thar schippis, & nettis, lyinnes, and all the laue. 1583 Satir. Poems Reform. xlv. 224 Five hundreth merkis he to him gave, And tuik in hand to pay the leave. 1721 Ramsay Prospect of Plenty x, Excepting some wha a' the lave will nick. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars Air v, Your every care and fear May whistle owre the lave o't. 1816 Scott Old Mort. vi, I'll pay the lave out o' the butter siller. 1865 G. Macdonald A. Forbes 44 Jist help me oot, an' lea the lave to me. |
† c. in adj. phr. to lave = remaining, surviving.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 79 Þa hi ᵹyt ᵹenaman þæs folces þe þær to lafe wæs..hund teontiᵹ þusenda. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 Þe niȝon werod, þe þer to lafon were. c 1205 Lay. 28583 Þa nas þer na mare i þan fehte to laue. |
▪ II. lave, n.2 rare.
[f. lave v.1]
a. The sea. b. The action of laving, wash.
| 1825 ‘Blackmantle’ (Westmacott) Engl. Spy (1826) 177 Like the sea-mew that skims o'er the lave. 1865 Dublin Univ. Mag. II. 350 The crystal lymph Through sands and ivy pulsed with ceaseless lave. |
▪ III. † lave, a. Obs. exc. in Comb.
Also 7 loave, 7–8 corruptly leaf.
[See lave v.2]
a. Of ears: Drooping, hanging.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 4748 With laith leggis & lange & twa laue eres. 1606 Wily Beguiled 58 And I were a woman, I would lug off his laue eares. 1659 Lady Alimony ii. vi, But take especial care You button on your night-cap—Morisco. After th' new fashion With his loave Ears without it. 1675 J. Smith Chr. Relig. Appeal ii. 9 Here the little Ear, there the lave Ear. |
b. Comb.: lave-ears, drooping or hanging ears (of a horse); hence lave-eared (corruptly leaf-eared) a., having ‘lave-ears’.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 42/45 Laue eared, plaudus. 1597 1st Pt. Return Parnass. i. i. 345 Thou lave-ear'd ass, that loves dross more than arts! 1607 Markham Caval. vii. (1617) 43 Of the disease belonging to the eares of a Horse, and first of the laue-eares, or hanging eares. 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2092/4 A large strong grey Gelding,..somewhat leaf-ear'd. 1701 Ibid. No. 3750/4 Stolen or strayed..a strong bay Cart-Horse..very wide Lave-Ear'd. a 1720 Gibson Diet. Horses viii. (ed. 3) 128 This Method is commonly used by the Jockeys to Leaf-eared Horses, to cause them to carry their ears more upright. 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece iii. 463 The hanging of the Ears is called by some the Lave-ears. 1926 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 431/1 If a poet..was lave-eared; if he had the eyes of a fawn, then you might be sure that he was a poet, and fear the worst. 1932 Auden Orators ii. 44 The nasty lave-eared pop-eyed bitch. |
▪ IV. lave, v.1 Now chiefly poet.
(leɪv)
Forms: 1 lafian, ᵹelafian, 2–3 lavin, 7 Sc. lawe, 4– lave.
[Two distinct formations appear to have coalesced—(1) OE. had lafian to wash by affusion, to pour (water), corresponding formally to MDu., Du. laven, OHG. labôn (MHG., mod.G. laben) to refresh; cf. OHG. laba, mod.G. labe refreshment. By some scholars the OE., Du., and Ger. words are considered to represent a WGer. adoption of L. lavāre to wash. This view involves some difficulty, as the numerous OHG. examples refer to refreshment by food, drink, or warmth, so that the assumed primary sense ‘to wash’, if it ever existed, must have been quite forgotten. The L. origin, however, accounts well for the senses of the OE. word, which perh. may be only accidentally similar in form to the continental words. (2) In ME. the representative of the OE. vb. blended indistinguishably with the vb. a. F. laver (= Pr., Sp., Pg. lavar, It. lavare):—L. lavāre = Gr. λούειν, f. OAryan root *lou- to wash (whence lather).]
1. trans. To wash, bathe.
| Beowulf 2722 (Gr.) Þeᵹn unᵹemete till winedryhten his wætere ᵹelafede. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 48 Lafa þin heafod mid do swa oft swa þe þearf sy. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 145 Hie his fet lauede mid hire hote teres. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 337 She was anone with water laved. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 350 Basons, and ewers, to laue her dainty hands. 1637 Milton Lycidas 175. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 159 Who could not endure the liquid test, but were soon laved into a ridiculous aspect. 1725 Pope Odyss. vi. 44 The wave, Where their fair vests Phæacian virgins lave. 1735 Somerville Chase i. 181 Tumultuous soon they plunge into the Stream, There lave their reeking Sides. 1827–35 Willis Leper 152 He took a little water in His hand And laved the sufferer's brow. 1858 Neale Bernard de M. (1865) 35 Who..Bore with me in defilement And from defilement laved. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxiv. 162 Now in waters clear thy feet like ivory laving. |
| fig. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. ii. 33 Wee must laue Our Honors in these flattering streames. 1810 Scott Lady of L. i. xv, And when the midnight moon should lave Her forehead in the silver wave. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. i. ii, In those bitter tears, childhood itself was laved from her soul for ever. |
b. intr. for refl. To bathe. lit. and fig.
| 1701 Cibber Love makes Man ii. ii, Happy he that..unconfin'd may lave and wanton there. 1704 Pope Windsor For. 209 In her chaste current oft the goddess laves. 1801 Foster in Life & Corr. (1846) I. 129 To lave in the stream, the tide of deeper sentiments. 1811 Miss Mitford in Life I. v. 129 The calm lake..Where the young cygnets lave. |
† c. to lave a (= with): to be bathed in or covered with (blood, sweat). Obs.
| c 1205 Lay 7489 He swonc i þon fehte Þat al he lauede asweote [c 1275 leþerede a swote]. a 1300 Judas in Rel. Ant. I. 144 He drou hymselve bi the cop, that al it lavede a blode. |
2. trans. Of a river, a body of water: To wash against, to flow along or past.
| 1623 tr. Favine's Theat. Hon. ii. i. 67 For this River..commeth to laue the Towne of Namure. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. cliii, Guns..Whose low-laid mouths each mounting billow laves. 1704 Addison Italy (1733) 129 The bord'ring Ocean laves Her silent Coast. a 1717 Parnell Night-Piece on Death 20 A place of graves, Whose wall the silent water laves. 1791 Cowper Iliad xxi. 318 The flood, Jove's offspring, laved his shoulders. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles v. viii, He leant against a stranded boat,..And counted every rippling wave, As higher yet her sides they lave. 1859 E. Capern Ball. & Songs 47 Where Torridge laves its banks of green. 1887 Spectator 30 July 1016/2 The shire is laved by a sea teeming with fish. |
| absol. 1808 Scott Marm. iii. x, There, through the summer day, Cool streams are laving. |
3. To pour out with or as with a ladle; to ladle. Also absol. Const. † in, into, on, upon.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 124 Hat wæter lafa on. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxv. 72 Ihesu,..The deu of grace upon me lave. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A 607 He lauez hys gyftes as water of dyche. a 1400 Sir Perc. 2250 Thay wolde not lett long thone, Bot lavede in hir with a spone. a 1648 Digby Closet Open. (1677) 24 This being done lave and bounce it [the honey and water] very well and often. 1703 T. N. City & C. Purchaser 190 The Lead being melted..is laved into the Pan. a 1711 Ken Hymns Evang. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 81 The Saint..on his Head the hallow'd Water lav'd. 1823 Lockhart Reg. Dalton vi. i. (1842) 350 He..laved a few cool drops upon his brow. 1862 Macm. Mag. Apr. 519 Lave the water..in slight handfuls..gently over the head and face. |
† b. intr. To run, stream. Obs.
| c 1425 Festivals Ch. 220 in Leg. Rood (1871) 217 Dropes rede as ripe cherrees, þat fro his flesshe gan lave. |
† 4. trans. To draw (water) out or up with a bucket, ladle, or scoop; to bale. Also with out, up, with complement, and absol. Obs.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 154 Mony ladde þer forth-lep to laue & to kest, Scopen out the scaþel water. c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. metr. xii. (E.E.T.S.) 107 [Orpheus] spak and song in wepynge alle þat euer he hadde resceyued and laued oute of þe noble welles of hys modir calliope. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 415 Þat lorde was woned to..lave up water of pitts. 1458 in Turner Dom. Archit. III. 41 With xi. laborers lavyng at onys. 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 471 Thow fylde faster than fyftensum mycht lawe. 1601 W. Parry Trav. Sir A. Sherley 6 To laue water out of this rotten boate. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iv. vii. (1651) 167 When I have laved the sea dry, thou shalt understand the mystery of the Trinity. 1644 Evelyn Diary 11 Oct., As we were weary with pumping and laving out the water. a 1700 Dryden tr. Ovid's Met. xi. Cevx & Alcyone 109 A fourth, with Labour, laves Th' intruding Seas, and Waves ejects on Waves. 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 13 It were Folly and unreasonable Charge..to Lave, or fill 20 or 30 Tubs of Water per hour. |
| transf. 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 5 It [a storm of wind] was yet so violent, that it laved water out of the River Cherwell, and cast it quite over the Bridge at Magdalen College. |
▪ V. † lave, v.2 Obs. rare—1.
[Cf. ON. lafa to droop.]
Of the ears: To droop, hang down.
| 1597–8 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. i. 72 His eares hang laving, like a new-lug'd swine. |
▪ VI. lave
obs. form of law.