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lad

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lad¹

  • /læd/
  • /laːd/ Northumbria
  • /ləd/ archaic, unstressed

Rhymes with -æd

Where it comes from

From Middle English ladde (“foot soldier, servant; male commoner; boy”), from late Old English *ladda (attested in Old English personal byname Ladda), probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse ladd (“hose, woolen stocking; sock”), which may have undergone semantic shift to mean a term of abuse (e.g. foolish youth, youngster of lower social status, etc.); thence by connotative amelioration coming to mean any young fellow. Compare Norwegian ladd (“rough sock, woolen or felt slipper”) and the -ladd in compounds Askeladd/Askeladden (a nickname in fairy tales, "Ash Lad") and tusseladd (“nincompoop”). See also Swedish ladder (“old shoes”), lodde (“Frisian shoe”), lädder (“socks”), all said to be related to Old Norse loðinn (“hairy, shaggy, woolly”), loddi (“shaggy dog”).

noun lads

  1. A boy or young man. How great is that danger, to which poor lads are now exposed, when placed on shipboard to learn the art of sailing! Five lads, training up for the seas, were now on board this ship; […]
  2. UK A hedonistic or irresponsible young man; a Jack the lad. I think he reckons he’s a bit of a lad.
  3. A familiar term of address for a young man. Come here, lad, and help me shift these boxes.
  4. A groom who works with horses.

    Similar: stable boy, stable lad

  5. Ireland, colloquial The penis. — The lad stood to attention anyhow, he said with a sigh. She's a gamey mare and no mistake.
  6. Internet A scammer. [...] regardless whether you feel the lads may deserve to be subjected to those types of images.

LAD²

noun LADs

  1. abbreviation, countable, uncountable Abbreviation of left anterior descending artery
  2. England, abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of local authority district
  3. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of language acquisition device
  4. abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of leukocyte adhesion deficiency

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: laddie, sonny boy, sonny, chap, fella, fellow, gent, cuss, blighter, cub, boy, kiddo, man, bloke, bairn, kiddy

Translations

Every language

noun a boy or young man

Españolniño, chico, mozo, mozalbete
한국어청년 cheongnyeon
日本語青年 seinen, 若者 wakamono
中文小伙子 xiǎohuǒzi, 青年 qīngnián
हिन्दीबालक bālak, लड़का laṛkā
Portuguêsrapaz
Françaisgarçon
DeutschJunge, Knabe, Bube
Ελληνικάαγόρι agóri
Românăbăiat
Русскийпа́рень párenʹ, ю́ноша júnoša, ма́льчик málʹčik, молодо́й челове́к molodój čelovék, па́ря párja
العربيةشَابّ šābb, فَتًى fatan
עבריתבָּחוּר

noun familiar term of address for a young man

Españolchico, muchacho, chaval
中文小伙 xiǎohuǒ, 小伙子 xiǎohuǒzi
Françaisgarçon, gars, jeune homme
DeutschBursche, junger Mann
Русскиймолодо́й челове́к molodój čelovék

noun a groom who works with horses

Françaispalefrenier
DeutschStallbursche
Русскийпомо́щник ко́нюха pomóščnik kónjuxa

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MLA

"lad." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/lad. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

lad. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/lad

Chicago

"lad." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/lad.

BibTeX
@misc{lad_2026,
  title = {lad},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/lad},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}