Lark Definition

lärk
larks
noun
larks
Any of a large family (Alaudidae) of chiefly Old World passerine birds, including the skylark and horned lark.
Webster's New World
Any of various birds from other families, as the meadowlark.
Webster's New World
A carefree or spirited adventure.
American Heritage
A frolic or spree.
Webster's New World
A merry prank.
Webster's New World
pronoun
A female given name from the lark bird.
Wiktionary

A surname, from lark as a byname or for a catcher and seller of larks.

Wiktionary

A patronymic surname shortened from Larkin, a medieval diminutive of Laurence.

Wiktionary
A male given name occasionally transferred from the surnames.
Wiktionary
verb
larks
To play or frolic; have a merry time.
Webster's New World
To catch larks.
To go larking.
Wiktionary
idiom
on a lark
  • impulsively; without forethought
Webster's New World

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Lark

Origin of Lark

  • From Middle English larke, laverke, from Old English lāwerce, lÇ£werce, lāuricæ, from Proto-Germanic *laiwazikÇ­ (compare dialectal West Frisian larts, Dutch leeuwerik, German Lerche), from *laiwaz (borrowed into Finnish leivo, Estonian lõo), of unknown ultimate origin with no known cognates outside of Germanic.

    From Wiktionary

  • a shortening of skylark (1809), sailors' slang, "play roughly in the rigging of a ship", because the common European larks were proverbial for high-flying; Dutch has a similar idea in speelvogel (“playbird, a person of markedly playful nature").

    From Wiktionary

  • from a northern English dialectal term lake/laik (“to play") (around 1300, from Old Norse leika (“to play (as opposed to work)")), with an intrusive -r- as is common in southern British dialects; or

    From Wiktionary

  • Short for skylark to frolic or alteration of dialectal lake play (from Middle English leik, laik) (from Old Norse leikr)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English laveroc, larke from Old English lāwerce

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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