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La
Definitions
- 1 Prefixed to the name of a woman, with ironic effect (as though an opera prima donna). ironic, not-comparable, often
"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."
- 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."
- 2 Used to introduce a statement with emphatic or intensive effect. obsolete
- 3 Expressing surprise, anger. etc. archaic
"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."
- 1 Initialism of Los Angeles: a city in California, United States. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
"LA is the loneliest and most brutal of American cities; New York gets god-awful cold in the winter but there’s a feeling of wacky comradeship somewhere in some streets. LA is a jungle."
- 2 Abbreviation of Louisiana: a state of the United States. abbreviation, alt-of
- 3 Abbreviation of Ladakh: a union territory of India. abbreviation, alt-of
- 4 Abbreviation of Lower Arkansas, also in reference to the state of Louisiana. abbreviation, alt-of, humorous
- 5 Abbreviation of Lampung: a province of Indonesia. abbreviation, alt-of
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Initialism of Las Anod: a city in Somalia. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 7 Initialism of Linear A. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 1 Initialism of left atrium. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 2 A syllable used in solfège to represent the sixth note of a major scale.
"And now Mrs Waters (for we must confess she was in the same bed), being, I suppose, awakened from her sleep, and seeing two men fighting in her bedchamber, began to scream in the most violent manner, crying out murder! robbery! and more frequently rape! which last, some, perhaps, may wonder she should mention, who do not consider that these words of exclamation are used by ladies in a fright, as fa, la, la, ra, da, &c., are in music, only as the vehicles of sound, and without any fixed ideas."
- 3 lad, kid
- 4 Abbreviation of lane (in street addresses). abbreviation, alt-of
- 5 the syllable naming the sixth (submediant) note of a major or minor scale in solmization wordnet
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 Initialism of lead arsenate. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 7 Alternative form of LA. alt-of, alternative
- 8 a white soft metallic element that tarnishes readily; occurs in rare earth minerals and is usually classified as a rare earth wordnet
- 9 Initialism of local anesthetic. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 10 Initialism of lateral area. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 11 Initialism of local authority. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
- 1 Placed at the end of a sentence in imperatives making it sound more like a request than an order. Hong-Kong, colloquial
"Sleep la!"
- 2 Alternative form of lah. Hong-Kong, Manglish, Singlish, alt-of, alternative, colloquial
- 3 Used to tone down comments. Hong-Kong, colloquial
"ok la"
Etymology
From Glover's solmization, from Middle English la (“sixth degree or note of Guido of Arezzo's hexachordal scales”), Italian la in the solmization of Guido of Arezzo, from the first syllable of Latin labiī (“lip's”) in the lyrics of the scale-ascending hymn Ut queant laxis by Paulus Deacon.
Sound used to form meaningless song refrains. Of imitative origin. Compare Old English lā (a common exclamation), Ancient Greek λαλαγε (lalage, “babble”), German lallen (“to babble”).
From Middle English la, from Old English lā. More at lo.
From French la, Italian la.
Possibly a shortened form of lad.
From Cantonese 啦 (laa¹). Doublet of lah.
See also for "la"
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