lown
See also: Lown
English
Etymology 1
From Middle English lune, borrowed from Old Norse logn (“windstillness”), from Proto-Norse *lugna, meaning "place where the water is smooth", ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright”), referring to shining water. Germanic cognates include Icelandic lón, Danish lyn (“lightning”), Swedish lugn (“calm water”).[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /laʊn/
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /lʌun/
- Rhymes: -aʊn, -ʌun
Noun
lown (plural lowns)
- (Scotland) Calm, tranquillity. [from 13th c.]
- A shelter; a calm or peaceful place. [from 17th c.]
Adjective
lown (comparative lowner, superlative lownest)
- (chiefly Scotland) Peaceful, calm. [from 15th c.][4]
- 1826 April, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine:
- Ye may hear him, on a lown day, at every farm-house in the parish.
Quotations
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:lown.
References
- ^ “lown”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2021.
- ^ Jan de Vries (1977) [1957–1960], “lown”, in Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse Etymological Dictionary] (in German), 3rd edition, Leiden: E[vert] J[an] Brill, →OCLC, page 364.
- ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 687-90
- ^ “lown”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
Etymology 2
See loon.
Noun
lown (plural lowns)
- (obsolete) A low fellow.
Cornish
Etymology
From Proto-Brythonic [Term?], from Latin lāmina. Cognate with Breton laon and Welsh llafn.
Noun
lown m (plural lownyow)
Derived terms
- lownek (“flaky; pollock”)
- lownya (“flake”, verb)
- lownys (“laminated”, adjective)
- roskis lown (“rollerblades”)