lava
UK/ˈlɑːvə//ˈlɑvə/
lava noun: 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.
Noun
lava (countable and uncountable, plural lavas)
- 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.
- Solidified lava.
- I leant forward to see him better, and a piece of lava, detached by my hand, went pattering down the slope.1896, H.G. Wells, The Island of Dr. Moreau, Stone & Kimball, page 48
- Magma.
- A shade of red, named after the volcanic lava.
- Hot water.
Proper noun capitalized: Lava
Lava
lava meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
lava in Hindi
- molten rock
- लावा lāvā
lava in Tamil
- molten rock
- எரிமலைக்குழம்பு erimalaikkuḻampu, நெருப்பு குழம்பு neruppu kuḻampu, எரி கற்குழம்பு eri kaṟkuḻampu
lava in Marathi
- लाव्हा
lava in Urdu
- molten rock
- لاوا lāvā
More languagesFewer languages
- lava in Bengali
- লাভা labha
- lava in Telugu
- లావా lāvā
- lava in Malayalam
- ദ്രവശില, ലാവ, അഗ്നിപർവ്വതപ്രവാഹം
- lava in Kannada
- ಲಾವಾರಸ, ಶಿಲಾರಸ, ಶಿಲಾದ್ರವ, ಶಿಲಾಪ್ರವಾಹ
- lava in Punjabi
- ਲਾਵਾ lāvā
- lava in Gujarati
- લાવા
- lava in Odia
- ଲାଭା, ଲାୱା
- lava in Nepali
- लावा, लभा
- lava in Tagalog
- laba
- lava in Arabic
- حُمَم بُرْكَانِيَّة ḥumam burkāniyya, لَابَة lāba
- lava in Malay
- lava
- lava in Indonesian
- lava, lahar
- lava in Persian
- گدازه godâze
- lava in Thai
- หินหลอมเหลว hǐn-lɔ̌ɔm-lěeo
- lava in Vietnamese
- dung nham
- lava in Myanmar
- ချော် hkyau
Examples of lava in a sentence
- (geology) a bulbous protrusion at the front of a lava flow or landslide.
- The lava bubbled up and over the rim of the crater.
- A lobe of lava was crawling down the side of the volcano.
Forms of lava
| plural | lavas |
|---|
Origin of lava
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.
Borrowed from Sanskrit लव (lava).
Words formed from lava
- fat lava
- hot lava
- lava bear
- lava bomb
- lava bread
- lava cake
- lava cast
- lavacast
- lavacicle
- lava cone
- lava dome
- lavafall
- lava field
- lava flow
- lavaform
- lava lake
- lava lamp
- lavaless
- lava-like
- lavalike
- lava millstone
- lavaproof
- lavascape
- lava sledding
- lavatic
- lava tree
- lava tree cast
- lava tree mold
- lava tube
- lava ware
- lavic
- laze
- molten lava cake
- the floor is lava
Phrases with lava
- lava bears
- lava bombs
- lava cakes
- lava cones
- lava domes
- lava flows
- lava lakes
- lava lamps
- lava tubes
- lava breads
- pillow lava
- lava millstones
3 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with lava
Questions about lava
- What does lava mean?
- Lava means 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.
- What is lava in Hindi?
- Lava in Hindi is लावा (lāvā). See Lava meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is lava?
- Lava can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce lava?
- Lava is pronounced /ˈlɑːvə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of lava?
- The plural of lava is lavas.
Words near lava in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lava (page history and authors); Lava (page history and authors); lava (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lava (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lava (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lava (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lava (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lava (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-lava.ogg.
Cite this entry: “lava.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lava. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.