tap / space
Classic usage
Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency
Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.
Likely from Middle French lourdin (“dull, obvious; clownish”) (related to lourdat (“dunce”), lourdade (“wench”)), from Middle French lourd (“heavy”), from Old French lourt, from Late Latin lurdus, possibly of Germanic origin. Cognate with Dutch loerd, French lourdant, Scottish Gaelic lurdan, this last apparently possessing a more knavish, roguish sense. Another etymology mentioned by Samuel Johnson is that the word may derive from the Gascon town of Lourdes (earlier called Lorde or Lourde) in Southern France, at one time known for being home to unskillful robbers; the characterization of the robbers as unusually awkward and heavy lending to the preexisting Latin word.
Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.
A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning
Sign in to use the worksheet generator.
Upload a file or open a document first.
Sign in to see your reading-vocabulary progress.
Your ledger is waiting
Read a chapter and tap the words you meet. Every word you learn is recorded here as your reading vocabulary grows.
—
Sign in to use vocabulary.
No vocabulary lists yet.
No matching vocabulary.
No words in this vocabulary yet.
Click a word in the Reader to add it.
Sign in to use bookmarks.
No bookmarks saved yet.
No matching bookmarks.
Sign in to save and open your own documents.
No saved documents yet.
Open a file or URL in the Reader, then use “Save to My Docs”.
No cards due — add words to a list.
Loading…
tap / space
Classic usage
No cards due — add words to a list.
Loading…
Building today's round…
Recent books: 0 books
Verbault — Brown corpus levels, WordNet definitions, Gutenberg corpus.
Pick a puzzle source to start.
Sign in to use this source.