lath
/lɑːθ/
lath noun: a thin, narrow strip, fastened to the rafters, studs, or floor beams of a building, for the purpose of supporting a covering of tiles, plastering, etc. Also the alternative form of lat.
Noun
lath (plural laths)
- A thin, narrow strip, fastened to the rafters, studs, or floor beams of a building, for the purpose of supporting a covering of tiles, plastering, etc.
- It is a piece of wood furnished with two parallel rows of plates, folding over each other, so as to resemble, in some degree, the laths of a blind.1847, editorial staff, “Swimming Skate”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 3, Issue 9, page 68
- "You are as thin as a lath and as brown as a nut."1887, Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet
- Synonyms:
- batten
- Microscopic, needle-like crystals, usually of plagioclase feldspar, in a glassy groundmass
- One of the sharp-edged, thick planks driven forward to hold back loose earth or mud when digging the way through for tunnelling or spiling. Also called a spill.
Verb
lath (third-person singular simple present laths, present participle lathing, simple past and past participle lathed)
Also used as
lath is also the alternative form of lat.
lath meaning in Persian
lath in Persian
- a thin, narrow strip, fastened to the rafters, studs, or floor beams of a building, for the purpose of supporting a covering of tiles, plastering, etc.
- توفال tufâl
Synonyms of lath
Forms of lath
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | laths |
| alternative Scotland | lat |
| alternative Scotland | latt |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | laths |
| present participle | lathing |
| past participle | lathed |
| past | lathed |
Origin of lath
From Middle English laththe, laþþe, earlier lathe, laþe, altered from Old English lætt (“lath”), from Proto-West Germanic *lattu, from Proto-Germanic *laþô (compare Dutch lat, German Latte) from Proto-Indo-European *(s)lat- (compare Welsh llath (“rod, wand, yard”)).
Words formed from lath
- relath
- counterlath
- dagger of lath
- lath and plaster
- plaster and lath
- lath board
- lath brick
- lathen
- lathless
- lathlike
- lath nail
- lath plaster
- lath strapping
- lathwork
- lathy
Phrases with lath
Words that rhyme with lath
Questions about lath
- What does lath mean?
- Lath means a thin, narrow strip, fastened to the rafters, studs, or floor beams of a building, for the purpose of supporting a covering of tiles, plastering, etc.
- What is lath in Persian?
- Lath in Persian is توفال (tufâl). See Lath meaning in Persian.
- What part of speech is lath?
- Lath can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce lath?
- Lath is pronounced /lɑːθ/.
- What is the plural of lath?
- The plural of lath is laths.
Words near lath in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lath (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-lath.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lath.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lath. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.