lace

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   draw through eyes or holes

   Lace the shoelaces.

2. 2
   verb

   make by braiding or interlacing

   Lace a tablecloth.

3. 3
   noun

   A light fabric containing patterns of holes, usually built up from a single thread.

   C. 1620, Francis Bacon, letter of advice to Sir George Villiers Our English dames are much given to the wearing of very fine and costly laces.

4. 4
   noun

   A cord or ribbon passed through eyelets in a shoe or garment, pulled tight and tied to fasten the shoe or garment firmly.

   Your laces are untied, do them up!

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Lace comes from Latin laqueus, meaning “noose,” a sense also found in early English. The word dates from late Middle English; shoelace is recorded from the mid-17th century. From the mid-16th century, lace also named an openwork fabric made from looped threads. The verb meaning “fortify” or “flavour,” as in lacing a drink, dates from the late 17th century.

From Middle English lace, laace, las, from Old French las, from Vulgar Latin *laceum, based on Latin laqueus. Doublet of lasso.

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary