English
lawn
Lawn comes from English laund ‘glade’, and goes back to Old French lande ‘heath, moor’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lande‘heath, moor’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500launde‘a glade or clearing’
- English1500–presentlaund‘glade’
- Englishearliest quotation 1827lawn
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400lande‘heath, moor’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500launde‘a glade or clearing’
- English1500–presentlaund‘glade’
- Englishearliest quotation 1827lawn
Earliest quotation: 1827, An Historical, Antiquarian: “By opening all the arches of the several apartments…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- ‘land, heath’
land, lend, lumbar, loma, lasagna, loin, 11 more
through Old French lande ‘heath, moor’
Another origin of lawn
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CELaudunumuncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400Lanuncertain
- Englishtodaylawn
Today it means
noun Ground (generally in front of or around a house) covered with grass kept closely mown.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French lande / lawn