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lob·lol·ly (lŏblŏlē)
Share:
n. pl. lob·lol·lies
1. Chiefly Southern US A mudhole; a mire.
2. The loblolly pine.

[Perhaps dialectal lob, to bubble + lolly, broth.]

Word History: In some regional dialects of the American South, the term loblolly is used to refer to a mire or mudhole. The word is a combination of lob, probably an onomatopoeic word suggesting the thick heavy bubbling of cooking porridge, and lolly, an old British dialect word meaning "broth, soup, or any other food boiled in a pot." Thus, loblolly originally denoted thick porridge or gruel, especially that eaten by sailors onboard ship. The meaning of the word in American dialects of the South makes allusion to the consistency of such porridge. The name loblolly has become associated with several varieties of trees as well, all of which favor wet bottomlands or swamps in the Gulf and South Atlantic states. Among these is the loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), whose strong wood is used as lumber and for paper pulp.

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Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.