Lacy

How to spell lacy

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce lacy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does lacy mean?

1. adjectiveResembling lace, or made of lace; having a fine, delicate, openwork pattern.

Lacy in a sentence

• The bride wore a long lacy veil over her shoulders.

• Frost left a lacy pattern across the cold window.

Where does lacy come from?

Language of origin: French

This word is simply the noun 'lace' with the adjective ending '-y' attached, meaning 'resembling or made of lace'. The noun lace came into English in the 1200s from Old French 'las' or 'laz', which meant a cord, string, or noose used for tying. That in turn descended from the Latin 'laqueus', literally a 'noose' or 'snare', the same root that lies behind the word 'lasso'. Over the centuries the sense softened from a binding cord to the fine, openwork fabric we picture today, and by the 1800s the form 'lacy' was being used to describe anything delicate and patterned like that fabric. The spelling trap is purely modern: when '-y' is added the silent 'e' of 'lace' is dropped, so the word ends '-cy' rather than the often-expected '-cey'.

How the word is built

• lace (from laqueus: noose, cord)
• -y (adjective suffix: having the quality of)