lax

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /læks/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks
• Homophone: lacks

Alternative forms

• lacks (Killian)

Etymology 1

From Middle English lax, from Old English leax (“salmon”), from Proto-West Germanic *lahs (“salmon”), from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz (“salmon”), from Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- (“salmon, trout”). Cognate with Middle Dutch lacks, lachs, lasche (“salmon”), Middle Low German las (“salmon”), German Lachs (“salmon”), Norwegian laks (“salmon”), Danish laks (“salmon”), Swedish lax (“salmon”), Icelandic lax (“salmon”), Lithuanian lašišà (“salmon”), Latvian lasis, Russian лосо́сь (losósʹ, “salmon”), Albanian leshterik (“eel-grass”). Doublet of lox.

Noun

lax (plural laxes)

1. (now chiefly UK dialectal, Scotland) A salmon.

Related terms

• gravlax
• lox

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Latin laxus (“wide, roomy, loose”).

Adjective

lax (comparative laxer, superlative laxest)

1. Lenient and allowing for deviation; not strict.

   The rules are fairly lax, but you have to know which ones you can bend.

   • 1886, John Addington Symonds, Philip Sidney:

     Society at that epoch was lenient, if not lax, in matters of the passions.

2. Loose; not tight or taut.

   The rope fell lax.

   • 1701, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation, , 3rd edition, London: Sam Smith, and Benj Walford, , →OCLC, part II, page 355:

     The Fleſh of this ſort of [cartilaginous] Fiſh being lax and ſpungy, and nothing ſo firm, ſolid and weighty as that of the bony Fiſhes, and there being a good quantity of Air contained in the Cavity of their Abdomen, they cannot ſink in the Water without letting in ſome of it by theſe Holes (the Orifices whereof are opened and ſhut at pleaſure by the help of Muſcles provided for that purpoſe) into the hollow of their Bellies, whereby they preponderate the Water and deſcend; […]

   • 1979, “Genetical Studies on Dense and Lax Panicles In Rice”, in Japan. J. Breed., volume 29, number 2, page 151:

     Sreedharan and Mirsa (1973) reported that two lax panicle mutants, designated as nude panicle mutation, were obtained from the M₂ of two rice cultivars.

3. Lacking care; neglectful, negligent.
   • 2011 October 1, Phil Dawkes, “Sunderland 2 – 2 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Prior to this match, Albion had only scored three league goals all season, but Wes Brown's lax marking allowed Morrison to head in their fourth from a Chris Brunt free-kick and then, a minute later, the initial squandering of possession and Michael Turner's lack of pace let Long run through to slot in another.

4. (mathematics) Describing an associative monoidal functor.
5. (archaic) Having a looseness of the bowels; diarrheal.
6. (linguistics) (of a vowel) Produced with relatively little constriction of the vocal tract.

   Antonym: tense

Synonyms

• (lenient, not strict): permissive, lenient, relaxed
• (loose, not tight): loose, slack
• (lacking care): blameworthy, lash, negligent, remiss, reprehensible

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "lenient, not strict"): strict
• (antonym(s) of "loose, not tight"): taut, tight

Derived terms

• lax vowel

Related terms

• laxity

Translations

Etymology 3

By replacement of the syllable crosse with the cross-shaped letter x.

Noun

lax (uncountable)

1. (slang) Lacrosse.
   • 2010, Kate Kingsley, Pretty on the Outside, page 79:

     “I'm not playing lax this term,” Mimah said.

Derived terms

• lax bro

See also

• ex-lax fish

Anagrams

• Axl

Catalan

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin laxus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencian)

Adjective

lax (feminine laxa, masculine plural laxos, feminine plural laxes)

1. loose, lax, slack

   Synonym: fluix

   Antonym: tens

Related terms

• laxar
• relax

Further reading

• “lax” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dacian

Noun

lax

1. The edible wild purslane plant.

German

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin laxus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laks/

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: Lachs, Lacks

Adjective

lax (strong nominative masculine singular laxer, comparative laxer, superlative am laxesten)

1. lax
2. (morale or ethics) easy, loose

Declension

Further reading

• “lax” in Duden online
• “lax” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): ,

Noun

lax m (genitive singular lax, nominative plural laxar)

1. salmon

Declension

Derived terms

• laxbleikur:
• laxbleikur litur m

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *laks, from the same source as laciō (“entice”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /laks/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /laks/,

Noun

lax f (genitive lacis); third declension

1. deception, fraud

Declension

Third-declension noun.

Synonyms

• fraus

References

• “lax”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• lax in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Anagrams

• alx

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lex

Etymology

From Old English leax, from Proto-West Germanic *lahs, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laks/, /lɛks/

Noun

lax (plural lax or laxes)

1. salmon

Descendants

• English: lax
• Scots: lax

References

• “lax, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-23.

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *lahsaz. Cognate with Old English leax, German Lachs, English lox, Old High German lahs, Yiddish לאַקס (laks).

Noun

lax m (genitive lax, plural laxar)

1. (zoology) salmon

Declension

Derived terms

• Laxárdalr

Descendants

References

• “lax”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Old Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

Noun

lax m

1. (zoology) salmon

Declension

Descendants

• Swedish: lax

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin laxus.

Adjective

lax m or n (feminine singular laxă, masculine plural lacși, feminine and neuter plural laxe)

1. lax

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse lax, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz.

The 1000 SEK sense is probably referring to the old pink color of the 1000 SEK banknote, the same color as a salmon. Compare with the similar themed older slang skäring, from skär (“pink”); räka (“prawn”); tegel (“brick”); and röding (“char”), from röd (“red”); all referring to the red-pinkish color of the 1000 SEK banknote. Color and animal-related nicknames for banknotes used to be quite common, e.g. grönsiska (“siskin; 6 riksdaler 32 skillingar”), kanariefågel (“canary bird; 32 skillingar”) and fågel blå (“blue bird; 500 riksdaler”).

An alternative possibility is of a Romani origin, then derived from Hindi लाख (lākh, “100,000”), from Sanskrit लक्ष (lakṣa), but such a Romani word has not been attested. Cf. lakan with the same meaning.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laks/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aks
• Homophone: lacks

Noun

lax c

1. salmon
2. (slang) A banknote with the nominal value 1000 SEK or the corresponding amount of money.

   Synonyms: lakan, långschal, skäring, papp, lök

Declension

Derived terms

• laxrosa

References

• Monica Golabiewski Lannby (2009 December 3) “Sedlarna som satte färg på språket”, in Språktidningen‎, retrieved 2021-11-26
• Monica Golabiewski Lannby (2009) “’LAXAR’ – de skära tusenlapparna”, in Svensk numismatisk tidskrift‎, number 8, Svenska numismatiska föreningen
• Gerd Carling (2005) “lax”, in Romani i svenskan: Storstadsslang och standardspråk, Stockholm: Carlsson, →ISBN, page 89