A way to think of it: a young male who is not yet treated as a full grown man — spoken about with warmth and a pat on the shoulder rather than with respect for his rank.
From the word’s history
From Middle English ladde 'foot soldier, servant, male commoner, boy', from late Old English *ladda, probably of North Germanic origin.
中古英語的 ladde 意思是「步兵、僕役、平民男子、男孩」，再往前可追到晚期古英語的 *ladda，來源可能是北日耳曼語。這條線索很說明問題：這個字從一開始指的就是「地位不高的年輕男性」——僕人、小兵、平民家的孩子。現代英語裡那份親切又略帶輕鬆、絕不用於尊稱的味道，正是從這個出身留下來的。
Etymology note supplied with this entry (Middle English ladde ← late Old English *ladda, probably North Germanic; cf. Old Norse ladd)
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料10 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
ladnoun/læd/
- 1
A boy or young man.
- How great is that danger, to which poor lads are now exposed, when placed on shipboard to learn the art of sailing! Five lads, training up for the seas, were now on board this ship; […]
- The lad, his son, had obtained a Jew's-harp, and learned to play upon it the profane airs of "Yankee Doodle," "Hail Columbia," "St. Patrick's Day," and "Auld Lang Syne."
- 2
A hedonistic or irresponsible young man; A Jack the lad.
- I think he reckons he’s a bit of a lad.
- Last night I was out drinking with the lads.
- 3
A familiar term of address for a young man.
- Come here, lad, and help me shift these boxes.
- 4
A groom who works with horses.
- 5
The penis.
- — The lad stood to attention anyhow, he said with a sigh. She's a gamey mare and no mistake.
- Mrs Glynn: Oh but there's this great bit in it. You see, there was this girl, but then you find out it's not a girl but a man! Mrs Sheridan: And he got his lad out.
- 6
A scammer.
- [...] regardless whether you feel the lads may deserve to be subjected to those types of images.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
- left anterior descending artery
- local authority district
- language acquisition device
- leukocyte adhesion deficiency
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。