lava

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   rock that in its molten form, known as magma, issues from volcanos

   Lava is what magma is called when it reaches the surface.

2. 2
   noun

   The molten rock ejected by a volcano from a vent such as a crater or fissure; magma that has breached the surface of the earth.

   Marine iguanas line the shores of the islands, and are usually seen sprawled over lava rocks near the sea.

3. 3
   noun

   Magma.

4. 4
   noun

   A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.

5. 5
   name

   One of the twin children of the Lord Rāma and his wife Sita in the Ramayana.

Etymology

From Italian, from Neapolitan and Sicilian lava (“lava; downpour overflowing the streets”), likely from Latin lābēs (“a fall; a collapse; subsidence”); compare lābīna (“landslide”). A supposed relation with lavare (“to wash”) is now widely discredited, nor is there probably any relation with Arabic لابة (lāba, “black volcanic rock”). Alternatively, the Romance words are connected with Provençal lavo, lauvo (“flat stone”), from a Vulgar Latin source borrowed from a Celtic language such as Gaulish *lawā, but ultimately of obscure origin; see Proto-Celtic *līwos for details.