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English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English lack, lakke, lak, from Old English *læc (“deficiency, lack, want”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak, from Proto-Germanic *laką, *lakaz (“slackness”), from Proto-Germanic *lakaz (“limp, slack, loose, low”), related to *lak(k)ōną (“to blame, reproach”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Lak (“lack”), Middle Low German lack, lak (“lack”), Dutch lak (“lack, deficiency, calumny”), Icelandic lakur (“lacking”). Related also to Middle Dutch laken (“to blame, lack”).
Eclipsed non-native Middle English carence (“absence, lack”), from Old French carence.
Noun
lack (countable and uncountable, plural lacks)
- A deficiency or need (of something desirable or necessary); an absence, want.
- Antonyms: glut, surplus
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :[…] let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend estimation;
1994, Green Day (lyrics and music), “Basket Case”:I went to a shrink, to analyze my dreams. He said it's lack of sex that's bringing me down.
2012 September 7, Phil McNulty, “Moldova 0-5 England”, in BBC Sport:If Moldova harboured even the slightest hopes of pulling off a comeback that would have bordered on miraculous given their lack of quality, they were snuffed out 13 minutes before the break when Oxlade-Chamberlain picked his way through midfield before releasing Defoe for a finish that should have been dealt with more convincingly by Namasco at his near post.
2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13:More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue.
- (obsolete) A defect or failing; moral or spiritual degeneracy.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned.
Derived terms
Translations
deficiency, need
- Arabic: نَقْص m (naqṣ), عَدَم وُجُود m (ʕadam wujūd)
- Armenian: պակաս (hy) (pakas)
- Assamese: নাটনি (natoni), অনাটন (onaton)
- Azerbaijani: çatışmazlıq, qıtlıq
- Belarusian: адсу́тнасць (be) f (adsútnascʹ), брак m (brak), недахва́т m (njedaxvát), недахо́п (be) m (njedaxóp)
- Bhojpuri: आभाव (ābhāv)
- Bulgarian: ну́жда (bg) f (núžda), ли́пса (bg) f (lípsa), отсъ́ствие (bg) n (otsǎ́stvie)
- Catalan: falta (ca) f, manca (ca) f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 不足 (zh) (bùzú), 缺乏 (zh) (quēfá)
- Czech: nedostatek (cs) m
- Danish: mangel (da) c
- Dutch: gebrek (nl) n
- Esperanto: manko
- Finnish: puute (fi), vajaus (fi), vaje (fi)
- French: manque (fr) m, défaut (fr) m, absence (fr) f
- Galician: falla f, marra f, carencia f
- German: Mangel (de) m
- Gothic: 𐍅𐌰𐌽 n (wan)
- Greek:
- Ancient: ἔνδεια f (éndeia)
- Hebrew: חוסר m (chóser)
- Hindi: कमी (hi) f (kamī)
- Hungarian: hiány (hu)
- Icelandic: skortur (is) m
- Ingrian: vaijuus
- Irish: uireasa f
- Italian: mancanza (it) f, scarsità (it) f, carenza (it) f, penuria (it) f
- Japanese: 不足 (ja) (ふそく, fusoku), 欠乏 (ja) (けつぼう, ketsubō)
- Korean: 부족 (ko) (bujok), 결핍 (ko) (gyeolpip)
- Ladino: mankansa f
- Latin: pēnūria f
- Macedonian: недостаток m (nedostatok)
- Malayalam: ഇല്ലായ്മ (ml) (illāyma), അഭാവം (ml) (abhāvaṁ)
- Maori: kore (mi)
- Norwegian: mangel (no) m
- Ottoman Turkish: فقدان (fıkdân)
- Polish: brak (pl) m, niedostatek (pl) m
- Portuguese: falta (pt) f, carência (pt) f, deficiência (pt) f, penúria (pt) f, escassez (pt) f
- Romanian: lipsă (de) (ro) f
- Russian: отсу́тствие (ru) n (otsútstvije), нехва́тка (ru) f (nexvátka), недоста́ток (ru) m (nedostátok), нужда́ (ru) f (nuždá) (need)
- Scottish Gaelic: cion m, gainne f, gainnead m, easbhaidh f
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: недостатак m
- Roman: nedostatak (sh) m
- Slovak: nedostatok (sk) m
- Spanish: falta (es) f, carencia (es) f, penuria (es) f, escasez (es) f
- Swedish: avsaknad (sv) c, brist (sv) c
- Tocharian B: menki
- Turkish: eksiklik (tr), yokluk (tr), yoksunluk (tr), noksan (tr)
- Ukrainian: брак (uk) m (brak), відсу́тність f (vidsútnistʹ), недоста́ча f (nedostáča)
- Urdu: کمی f (kamī)
- Welsh: diffyg (cy) m
- Zazaki: kemiyey, kemeyin, taynin, qıtlığ
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Etymology 2
From Middle English lacken, lakken, laken, from Old English læccian, *lacian (“to blame, criticise, lack”), from Proto-West Germanic *lak(k)ōn (“to blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Germanic *lak(k)ōną (“to reproach, blame, be lacking”), from Proto-Indo-European *lok-néh₂-. Cognate with Old Frisian lakia, lekia (“to contest, blame”), Middle Low German lacken, laken (“to reproach, blame, criticise”), Middle Dutch laken (“to disapprove, blame, lack”), Dutch laken (“to blame, reproach”).
Verb
lack (third-person singular simple present lacks, present participle lacking, simple past and past participle lacked)
- (transitive, stative) To be without, not to have, to need, to require.
My life lacks excitement.
2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13:More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue.
- (intransitive) To be short (of or for something).
He'll never lack for company while he's got all that money.
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :Hamlet. What hour now?
Horatio. I think it lacks of twelve.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To be in want.
- (obsolete) To see the deficiency in (someone or something); to find fault with, to malign, reproach.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
be without, need, require
- Albanian: mungon
- Basque: falta da
- Belarusian: бракава́ць impf (brakavácʹ), адсу́тнічаць impf (adsútničacʹ)
- Bulgarian: нуждая се (nuždaja se), липсва ми (lipsva mi)
- Catalan: faltar (ca), mancar (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 缺 (zh) (quē), 欠 (zh) (qiàn), 缺乏 (zh) (quēfá)
- Czech: postrádat (cs)
- Dutch: (archaic) derven (nl), ontberen (nl), missen (nl), gebrek hebben (aan)
- Esperanto: manki (eo)
- Faliscan: careo (careo)
- Finnish: puuttua (fi), tarvita (fi)
- French: manquer (fr)
- Galician: faltar (gl), fallar (gl), marrar (gl)
- Georgian: აკლია (aḳlia)
- German: mangeln (de), fehlen (de), (transitive, dated) entbehren (de)
- Alemannic German: fääle
- Greek:
- Ancient: δέω (déō), χηρεύω (khēreúō)
- Greenlandic: -ilatsi
- Haitian Creole: manke
- Hungarian: nélkülöz (hu), hiányt szenved (hu), hiányol (hu)
- Icelandic: skorta
- Ido: indijar (io)
- Italian: mancare (it), scarseggiare (it), richiedere (it), necessitare (it)
- Japanese: 欠ける (ja) (かける, kakeru) (intransitive), 欠く (ja) (かく, kaku) (transitive)
- Khmer: ខ្វះ (km) (khvah)
- Korean: 없다 (ko) (eopda), 부족하다 (ko) (bujokhada) (be short)
- Ladino: mankar
- Latin: desum (la), egeo, careo, desidero
- Macedonian: недостасува impf (nedostasuva)
- Maori: kōpaka
- Mongolian: дутах (mn) (dutax)
- Norwegian: mangle (no)
- Occitan: mancar (oc)
- Old Church Slavonic: недостати pf (nedostati)
- Polish: brakować (pl) impf, zabraknąć (pl) pf
- Portuguese: faltar (pt), carecer (pt)
- Quechua: muchuy, usuy
- Russian: отсу́тствовать (ru) impf (otsútstvovatʹ), недостава́ть (ru) impf (nedostavátʹ), недоста́ть (ru) pf (nedostátʹ), нужда́ться (ru) impf (nuždátʹsja) (need)
- Sidamo: hooga
- Slovene: manjkati (sl) impf
- Spanish: faltar (es), carecer (es)
- Swedish: sakna (sv), fattas (sv)
- Thai: please add this translation if you can
- Turkish: yoksun olmak (tr)
- Ukrainian: бракува́ти (uk) impf (brakuváty)
- Vietnamese: thiếu (vi)
- Welsh: yn eisiau
- Yup'ik: (noun-to-verb postbase meaning "to lack N.") -ngite
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Etymology 3
Noun
lack (plural lacks)
- Archaic form of lakh.
- a lack of rupees
Further reading
- Kroonen, Guus (2013) “lak(k)on-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 325
See also
Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
Verb
lack
- imperative singular of lacken
- (colloquial) first-person singular present of lacken
Swedish
Etymology
From French lacre (“sealing wax”), from Portuguese laca.
Noun
lack n
- varnish, lacquer
1980, “Sommarnatt [Summer night]”, in Lars "Dille" Diedricson, Torben Ferm (music), Sommarnatt, performed by Snowstorm:Rosa lack och kromad list i '59 års modell. Jag öser på för fullt i stan som en 50-talsrebell. Jag sveper över landsvägar, ja, jag sveper genom natten. Och tar det coolt till Clarions sound, med en säker hand på ratten.- Pink lacquer and chrome trim of model year '59. I go full out / step on it in the city like a 50s rebel. I sweep across roads , yes, I sweep through the night. And take it cool to Clarion's sound, with a steady hand on the wheel.
Declension
Derived terms
Related terms
Adjective
lack (comparative mer lack, superlative mest lack)
- (colloquial) angry
Jag blir lack på honom- I get angry at him
See also
References