Lough
//lɑx// name, noun
name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A lake or long, narrow inlet, especially in Ireland. Ireland
"Outside, a freezing wind whips across Belfast lough […]."
- 2 lake, pool Cumbria, Northumbria
- 3 Irish word for a lake wordnet
- 4 a long narrow (nearly landlocked) cove in Ireland wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Outside, a freezing wind whips across Belfast lough […]."
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Irish loch (from Old Irish loch), from Proto-Celtic *loku (“lake, pool”), from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (“pond, pool”). Doublet of lay, loch, and Looe.
Etymology 2
From Middle English lough, logh, luh, borrowed from Cumbric *luch, derived from Proto-Brythonic *lux, from Proto-Celtic *lokus (“lake, pool”).
Related phrases
More for "lough"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.