An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Lache

by Friedrich Kluge

Lache, feminine, from the equivalent Middle High German lache, Old High German lahha, feminine, ‘puddle, pool, water in an excavation.’ The Old High German word cannot be derived from Latin lăcus, ‘lake,’ which may, however, be the origin of Middle English and English lake, while Anglo-Saxon lagu, ‘lake,’ shows what form the Teutonic word cognate with the Latin term would assume. The attempt to connect Lache (Bavarian lacke) and lacus is also opposed by the difference in meaning; Italian lacca, ‘low ground,’ and Old Slovenian loky are German loan-words. The origin of Lache remains obscure; it is scarcely allied to leck and its cognates.