lava
nounUK /ˈlɑːvə/ · US /ˈlɑvə/
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.
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.1991, Martha Holmes, Sea Trek, BBC Books, page 44:
A body of lava.
Informal, Proscribed Magma.
A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.
Colloquial, Figuratively Hot water.
- Derived terms
26 terms
fat lava, hot lava, lava bear, lava bomb, lava bread, lava cake, lavacicle, lava cone, lava dome, lavafall, lava field, lava flow, lavaform, lava lake, lava lamp, lavaless, lavalike, lava-like, lava millstone, lavascape, lava sledding, lava tube, lava ware, laze, molten lava cake, the floor is lava- Hyponyms
- cryolava, pillow lava