English

lace

Lace comes from Old French las ‘alas’, from Latin laqueus ‘noose’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *lakʷ- ‘to ensnare’.

Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lakʷ-¹‘to ensnare’reconstructed
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaqueus²‘noose’
Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*laceum²reconstructed
Old Frenchc. 842–1400las²‘alas’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lace²
Englishearliest quotation 1600lace²

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

¹ Wiktionary, Latin laqueus
² Wiktionary, English lace
Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1600, Torquato Tasso, The Second Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne: “The king had ſnared been in loues ſtrong lace,…”.

Lineage

Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lakʷ-1Wiktionary, Latin laqueus‘to ensnare’reconstructed
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaqueus2Wiktionary, English lace‘noose’
Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*laceum2Wiktionary, English lacereconstructed
Old Frenchc. 842–1400las2Wiktionary, English lace‘alas’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lace2Wiktionary, English lace
Englishearliest quotation 1600lace2Wiktionary, English lace. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1600, Torquato Tasso, The Second Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne: “The king had ſnared been in loues ſtrong lace,…”

Linked words

through Latin laqueus ‘noose’

lash, 7 more

through Vulgar Latin *laceum

lasso

Another origin of lace

Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*lakʷ-‘to ensnare’reconstructed
Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaqueus‘noose’
Old Frenchc. 842–1400lacieras lacer‘to lace’
Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lacen
Englishtodaylace

Today it means

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

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lace”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin laqueus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *lakʷ- / lace

Shirt and support for this word

lacelace