loch

See also: Appendix:Variations of "loch"

English

WOTD – 30 November 2018

Pronunciation

• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /lɔx/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /lɒk/, /lɒx/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /lɑk/, /lɑx/, /lɑç/

• Audio (Australia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒk, -ɒx
• Homophones: lough; lock (when pronounced with /k/)

Etymology 1

From Middle English lough, borrowed from Scottish Gaelic loch. Doublet of lay, Looe, and lough.

Noun

loch (plural lochs)

Alfred de Bréanski, Loch Ness (19th–20th century), from a private collection. Loch Ness, a loch (etymology 1) in the Scottish Highlands, UK, is reputedly inhabited by the Loch Ness monster.

1. (Ireland, Scotland) A lake.
   • 1802 November 1, “Account of the Drainage of the Lochs at Leuchars and Cotts, in the County of Moray”, in The Farmer’s Magazine: A Periodical Work, Exclusively Devoted to Agriculture, and Rural Affairs, volume III, number XII, Edinburgh: Printed by D. Willison, for Archibald Constable, [...], →OCLC, pages 453–454:

     The greater part of Leuchars Loch belonged to the Inneses of Leuchars, Cotts to the Inneses of Innes; and while thus poſſeſſed, many unſucceſsful attempts to drain both, by canals, to the river Loſſie, ſeem to have been made. […] [A] very ordinary fall of rain raiſes it [the river] far beyond its natural bounds; and the immediate conſequence of ſuch floods, was, the ſpeat-water flowing into thoſe lochs, by the canal, and covering the adjacent meadows.

   • 1840, John Colquhoun, “Loch-fishing”, in The Moor and the Loch: […], Edinburgh: William Blackwood & Sons; London: T[homas] Cadell, →OCLC, page 56:

     But, enchanting as are the woodland banks of the quiet stream, there is to me a higher and yet more powerful charm in the solitary wildness or savage grandeur of the Highland loch.

   • 1855, Philip Gilbert Hamerton, “Notes [on the poem The Isles of Loch Awe]”, in The Isles of Loch Awe and Other Poems of My Youth, London: W. E. Painter, […], →OCLC, page 91:

     This book may possibly fall into the hands of tourists in the Highlands; and if it should induce any one to visit the Isles of Loch Awe, a few words on my part may save him a good deal of trouble. The inns are so badly situated that no visitors but sportsmen and painters ever think of staying long at Loch Awe. The hotel at Dalmally is an old inconvenient house, three miles from the loch, and wants rebuilding. The inn at Cladich is a mile from the loch, and the footpath in wet weather is almost impassable.

   • 1903 September 11, “The Late Mr. James M. Gale”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume LXXVI, London: Offices for advertisements and publication—35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 351, column 2:

     Mr. [James M.] Gale's scheme for doubling the [water] supply was carried through both Houses of Parliament, and was at once put into construction. It especially included the raising of the boundaries of the loch, and it brought into assistance and use other lochs in the Loch Katrine area; and Glasgow and its suburbs are now supplied with water as no other community in the kingdom is supplied.

   • 2010 January, Rick Emmer, “Into the Limelight”, in Loch Ness Monster: Fact or Fiction? (Creature Science Investigation), New York, N.Y.: Chelsea House Publishers, Infobase Publishing, →ISBN, page 28:

     […] Marmaduke Wetherell was hired by the Daily Mail newspaper to lead a search for the lair of the Loch Ness Monster. […] To everyone's surprise, within a few days of the start of his search, Wetherell came across a huge, four-toed footprint along the shoreline of the loch. This was just the sort of sensational story the newspaper was hoping for.

2. (Ireland, Scotland) A bay or arm of the sea.
   • 1865, James G[lass] Bertram, “Fish Life and Growth”, in The Harvest of the Sea: A Contribution to the Natural and Economic History of the British Food Fishes, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 28:

     It is well known, for instance, that the superiority of the herrings caught in the inland sea-lochs of Scotland is owing to the fish finding there a better feeding-ground than in the large and exposed open bays. Look, for instance, at Lochfyne: the land runs down to the water's edge, and the surface water or drainage carries with it rich food to fatten the loch, and put flesh on the herring; and what fish is finer, I would ask, than a Lochfyne herring?

   • 2010, Martyn S. Stoker, Charles R. Wilson, John A. Howe, Tom Bradwell, David Long, “Paraglacial Slope Instability in Scottish Fjords: Examples from Little Loch Broom, NW Scotland”, in J[ohn] A. Howe, W. E. N. Austin, M. Forwick, M. Paetzel, editors, Fjord Systems and Archives (Geological Society Special Publication; no. 344), London: Published by The Geological Society, →ISBN, page 227, column 1:

     Little Loch Broom is a NW trending sea loch situated approximately 10 km west of Ullapool […]. The flanks of the loch are characterized by rugged headlands backed by mountains such as An Teallach to the south and Beinn Ghobhlach to the north.

Synonyms

• (both senses): lough (Britain, Ireland)
• (lake): lake
• (bay or arm of the sea): bay, firth, sea loch

Hyponyms

• estuary
• fjord
• strait

Derived terms

• Gare Loch
• Holy Loch
• Loch Achray
• Loch Ailort
• Loch Alsh
• Loch Assynt
• Loch Awe, Lochawe
• Loch Broom
• Loch Carron
• Lochcarron
• Loch Creran
• Loch Earn
• Loch Eil
• Lochend
• Loch Etive
• Loch Fleet
• Loch Fyne
• Loch Hourn
• Loch Indaal
• Loch Inver
• Loch Katrine
• Loch Leven
• Loch Linnhe
• Loch Lochy
• Loch Lomond
• Loch Long
• Loch Ness
• Loch Ness monster
• Loch Ossian
• Loch Ryan
• Loch Shiel
• lochside
• Loch Tay
• Loch Torridon
• Loch Treig
• sea loch

Related terms

• lochan (diminutive)
• lough (Britain, Ireland)

Translations

lake, bay or arm of the sea

• Breton: loc'h (br) f
• Bulgarian: е́зеро (bg) n (ézero)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 湖 (zh) (hú)

• Esperanto: loĥo
• Finnish: järvi (fi)
• French: loch (fr) m
• German: Loch (de) m or n
• Greek: λίμνη (el) f (límni), λοχ f (loch)
• Irish: loch (ga)
• Macedonian: лох m (loh), езеро (mk) n (ezero)
• Manx: logh
• Russian: лох (ru) m (lox), озеро (ru) n (ozero)
• Scottish Gaelic: loch
• Spanish: lago (es) m
• Vietnamese: vũng (vi)
• Welsh: llwch (cy) m, llyn (cy) m

Etymology 2

See lohoch.

Noun

loch (plural lochs)

1. Alternative form of lohoch (“medicine taken by licking”).
   • 1859, Al[fred François] Donné, “Of Professional Nurses”, in Mothers and Infants, Nurses and Nursing. […], Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, →OCLC, page 67:

     We may obtain, then, a just idea of the constitution of this liquid [milk], if we look upon it as a soft, liquid substance, a kind of loch,^* in which caseine, sugar, &c., are dissolved, and in which the fatty or oily substance is distributed in small, rounded atoms. [Footnote *: Loch, or lohoch, is an Arabian name for a medicine of a consistence between an electuary and a sirup, and usually taken by licking. […]]

   • 1897, George du Maurier, “Part Seventh”, in The Martian: […] (Bell’s Indian and Colonial Library), London; Bombay: George Bell and Sons, →OCLC, page 324:

     Uncle James had caught a cold too, so I went with Grissel; and found a chemist who'd been in France, and knew what a loch was and made one for me; […]

   • 2011, Graeme Tobyn, Alison Denham, Margaret Whitelegge, “Hyssopus officinalis, Hyssop”, in The Western Herbal Tradition: 2000 Years of Medicinal Plant Knowledge, Edinburgh; London: Churchill Livingstone, →ISBN, page 195, column 2:

     [Rembert] Dodoens specifically recommends the preparation of a lohoch or loch – a 'licking medicine', of middle consistency, between a soft electuary and a syrup – for relief of obstruction, shortness of breath and an old, hard cough.

Further reading

• loch on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• HOCl, HOLC, OLHC, chol, ochl-

Cimbrian

Alternative forms

• lòch (Sette Comuni)

Etymology

From Middle High German loch, from Old High German loh, from Proto-Germanic *luką (“lock”). Cognate with German Loch, Dutch lok, English lock, Icelandic lok.

Noun

loch n

1. (Luserna) hole

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from German Loch (“hole”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlox]
• Rhymes: -ox

Noun

loch m inan

1. (colloquial) nick, slammer (prison)

   Synonyms: kriminál, vězení

Declension

Declension of loch (velar masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	loch	lochy
genitive	lochu	lochů
dative	lochu	lochům
accusative	loch	lochy
vocative	lochu	lochy
locative	lochu	lochách, loších
instrumental	lochem	lochy

Further reading

• “loch”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “loch”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔk/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Since late 17th century. Along with the obsolete lok, borrowed from English log directly and through Dutch log, from Middle English logge, logg, of uncertain but perhaps North Germanic/Scandinavian origin.

Noun

loch m (plural lochs)

1. (nautical) chip log, log
   • 1698, Jean Bouguer, Traité complet de la navigation‎^[1], page 136:

     L'on marque encore les toises que fait un Vaisseau par le loch qui est un morceau de bois d'environ un anpan de long, taillé comme le fond d'une barque, garni de plomb sous son fond pour luy servir de leste, auquel attache un ligne de menuë & fine marquée par toises, & pour s'en servir on jette le loch à la mer par la Poupe ou arriere du Vaisseau, & l'on file de la ligne jusqu'à ce que le loch soit hors du remore du Vaisseau, aprés l'on commence à compter les toises de la ligne que l'on file pendant une demy minute, & si l'on en file six toises le Navire fait un quart de lieuë par heure, si l'on en file 24 toises on fait une lieuë par heure, & si 48 toises on fait deux lieuës par heure, &c.

     We still mark the fathoms made by a Vessel by the log which is a piece of wood about an anpan in length, shaped like the bottom of a boat, lined with lead under its bottom to serve as ballast, to which is attached a slim and fine line marked in fathoms, and which is used by throwing the log in the sea from the Poop deck or stern of the Vessel, and the line is let slip up until the log is out of the delay of the Vessel, after which one starts to count the leagues on the line which is being let slip for a half a minute, and if six fathoms slip the Vessel is doing a quarter of a league per hour, if 24 fathoms slip it's doing one league per hour, and if 48 fathoms it's doing two leagues per hour, &c.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English loch, from Scottish Gaelic loch.

Noun

loch m (plural lochs)

1. loch

Further reading

• “loch”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Irish

Etymology

From Old Irish loch, from Proto-Celtic *loku, from Proto-Indo-European *lókus (compare Latin lacus, Old English lagu).

Pronunciation

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /l̪ˠɔx/, /l̪ˠɞx/
• (Connacht) IPA^(key): /l̪ˠox/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /l̪ˠɔx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: luch (Connacht)

Noun

loch m (genitive singular locha, nominative plural lochanna)

1. lake

Declension

Declension of loch (third declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative loch lochanna vocative a loch a lochanna genitive locha lochanna dative loch lochanna forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an loch na lochanna genitive an locha na lochanna dative leis an loch don loch leis na lochanna

Derived terms

• lochán
• Loch nEathach
• Loch Garman

Descendants

• → English: lough
• → Yola: Lough

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1927), “loċ”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla [Irish and English Dictionary], 2nd edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 668; reprinted with additions 1996, →ISBN
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “loch”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla [Irish–English Dictionary], Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈl̪ox/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *loku, from Proto-Indo-European *lókus. Welsh llwch, Breton loc'h, and Cornish logh might be borrowed from Old Irish.

Noun

loch n or m (genitive locho)

1. lake
2. inlet of the sea

Inflection

Neuter u-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	lochN	lochL	lochL, locha
vocative	lochN	lochL	loch
accusative	lochN	lochL	loch
genitive	lochoH, lochaH	lochoN, lochaN	lochN
dative	lochL	lochaib	lochaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: loch
  • → English: lough
  • → Yola: Lough
• Manx: logh
• Scottish Gaelic: loch
  • → Middle English: lough, loch, louche, luh
    • English: lough, loch
    • Scots: loch

Etymology 2

According to Stokes, from Proto-Celtic *louko, from Proto-Indo-European *léwks (“light, shine”).

Adjective

loch

1. black, dark

Inflection

o/ā-stem

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	loch	loch	loch
vocative	loich* loch**
accusative	loch	loich
genitive	loich	loiche	loich
dative	loch	loich	loch
plural	masculine	feminine/neuter
nominative	loich	locha
vocative	lochu locha†
accusative	lochu locha†
genitive	loch
dative	lochaib

*modifying a noun whose vocative is different from its nominative
**modifying a noun whose vocative is identical to its nominative
† not when substantivized

Mutation

Mutation of loch

radical	lenition	nasalization
loch also lloch in h-prothesis environments	loch pronounced with /l-/	loch also lloch

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Polish

loch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɔx/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔx
• Syllabification: loch

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Loch (“hole”).

Noun

loch m inan (diminutive loszek)

1. dungeon (an underground prison or vault)
2. (colloquial, regional) cellar (esp. a pantry in the cellar)

Declension

Declension of loch

	singular	plural
nominative	loch	lochy
genitive	lochu	lochów
dative	lochowi	lochom
accusative	loch	lochy
instrumental	lochem	lochami
locative	lochu	lochach
vocative	lochu	lochy

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

loch f pl

1. genitive plural of locha

Further reading

• “loch”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “loch”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French loch.

Noun

loch n (plural lochuri)

1. loch

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	loch	lochul	lochuri	lochurile
genitive-dative	loch	lochului	lochuri	lochurilor
vocative	lochule		lochurilor

Scots

Etymology

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic loch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔx/

Noun

loch (plural lochs)

1. lake, loch, firth

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish loch, from Proto-Celtic *loku, from Proto-Indo-European *lókus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɫ̪ɔx], /ɫ̪ɔx/

Noun

loch f (genitive singular locha, plural lochan)

1. lake, loch
2. arm of the sea
3. fjord

Derived terms

• lochan (diminutive)
• muc-locha

Descendants

• → Middle English: lough, loch, louche, luh
  • English: lough, loch
  • Scots: loch